DESIGN PATENTS

Patents are an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem.

In the fashion industry, design patents or fashion patents where the subject matter is the design and not the article itself. The visual characteristics embodied in or applied to an article come under the purview of a design patent.

Design patent protects the looks, appearance, and touch of a pre-existing or new intellectual property. Its purpose is to prevent unauthorized replication and sale of a product’s appearance, thereby safeguarding the creator’s revenue.

When a designer comes up with something new, then it is the design patent that protects it from all the plagiarizers out there so that the creator can enjoy the true ownership of this intellectual property, until the novelty wears off which often occurs swiftly in the fashion industry.

Gucci, the fastest-growing luxury fashion brand, derives most of its revenue from leather goods, excluding shoes. The brand has design patents related to watches. The majority of their patents are in the US, categorized as “Measuring, Testing, or Signaling Instruments,” mainly
wristwatch designs.

In Europe, the focus shifts to purse-related patents, including innovative closing mechanisms. Gucci has also secured patents for bag designs under “Travel Goods and Personal Belongings.

NIKE INC. vs. SKETCHERS U.S.A

Nike sued Sketchers in the U.S. District Court for Central District of California, alleging patent infringement for producing a “Sketcher-ized version” of Nike shoes on September 2019.

Nike accused Sketchers of copying designs to gain market share instead of innovating. Nike claimed that Skechers models like Skech-Air Atlas, Skech-Air 92, Skech-Air Stratus, and Skech-Air Blast were too similar in appearance to Nike’s VaporMax and Air Max 270 patented designs. Nike seeks permanent injunction, compensation for damages including profits frominfringement.