IP cases involving Chaozhou Haifa Trading Co., Ltd

Fashion is one of the biggest industries in the world. Global market value of the clothing industry was set to $1.7 trillion dollars in 2021 and expected to enjoy a 6.1% growth to $1.95 billion dollars in 2022-2023 according to two different research reports by Euromonitor and McKinsey [1]. This article highlights why trademark registration is of a crucial importance for fashion retailers.

By definition, a trademark needs to display sufficient distinctiveness to identify the origin and ownership of the products and services. That means generic and descriptive words should be avoided at all costs. The landmark case in United States PTO v. Booking.com B.V, however, proves that a generic term combined with “.com” or another top-level domain can be registered as a trademark if there is sufficient evidence of consumer recognition.

Cases of multinational companies putting claims against much smaller businesses are far from uncommon, but their result is almost always the same - an absolute PR nightmare for the corporate giants. Oatly AB, a leading plant-based dairy alternatives producer, is amongst the companies that have fallen under public scrutiny after their overly aggressive trademark enforcement actions.