“Hottest Fashion Brand in the World” Sues Children’s Clothing Company for Trademark InfringementJanuary 2, 2019

In December 2018, high-end streetwear fashion label Off-White filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against children’s clothing company Brooklyn Lighthouse, claiming the Brooklyn company infringed upon Off-White’s trademarks and trade dress.

Off-White’s products typically retail between $150 and $2,500 and feature “distinctive graphic and logo-heavy apparel designs.”  Such graphics include the “Off-White” name, as well as “a unique design mark comprised of alternating parallel diagonal lines” and “a unique design mark comprised of two intersecting dual-sided arrows,” examples of which are pictured below.

Since its launch approximately five years ago, Off-White has experienced great success, even being referred to byLyst magazine as “the hottest fashion brand in the world.”  Yet Off-White claims that with this success has come competitors unfairly attempting to benefit from Off-White’s acquired goodwill and reputation.  One such alleged competitor is Brooklyn Lighthouse.

Brooklyn Lighthouse markets itself as providing “trendy fashion for young children,” selling apparel that seemingly evokes various high-end fashion brands.  In its lawsuit filed earlier this month, Off-White alleges Brooklyn Lighthouse has been advertising and selling products using marks identical or confusingly similar to those of Off-White.  Some examples of such products are shown below.

While Brooklyn Lighthouse has not yet filed a response to Off-White’s complaint, this appears to be a clear example of counterfeit/unauthorized products designed to trade off the goodwill and reputation of a luxury brand—a problem pervasive in the fashion industry.

Nicholas Krob is an Intellectual Property Attorney at McKee, Voorhees & Sease, PLC specializing in Litigation, Licensing, and Trademarks. For additional information please visit www.ipmvs.com or contact Nick directly via email at nicholas.krob@ipmvs.com.