When the coronavirus imposed widespread restrictions, the couple’s income plummeted. In response to these difficulties, they decided to change the industries they had n working in and jointly founded a company selling gardening supplies called LV Bespoke, where the first two letters referred to their names as the founders. This turned out to be a successful move, as with the increase in income from the new company, the Osborne couple filed an application for the registration of the trademark “LV Bespoke” with the Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom in December 2021. As it turned out, after the initial analysis, no objections were raised to the application.
However, it turned out that, despite the absence of objections to the application, after its publication in March 2022, the representatives of the French fashion brand Louis Vuitton filed an opposition in this case, claiming that the trademark “LV Bespoke” infringed their protective rights to the trademark.
The owners of the gardening store were surprised by this move. As they pointed out, it is absurd to think that the French fashion house has exclusive rights to the letters L and V. Moreover, according to the Osborne couple, there is no way to compare the products of both companies, as on the one hand, we have a gardening company, and on the other, a fashion brand. The couple quickly consulted with a lawyer and decided to defend their rights and fight the giant.
During the court proceedings, the fashion house’s legal representative argued that the disputed mark contains the letters L and V, which are essentially an abbreviation for Louis Vuitton. Furthermore, the disputed mark also contains the same two letters, in the same order, followed by the words “bespoke.” Therefore, there is a conceptual identity or very high degree of similarity between the marks, as both marks refer to the LV brand. As a result, the fashion house argued that there is a risk that the average consumer may perceive “LV Bespoke” as a sub-brand of Louis Vuitton.
After hearing the case, the court, however, ruled in favor of the Osborne couple, finding that Louis Vuitton’s opposition was unjustified. The court disagreed with the fashion house’s argument, stating that their company specializes in selling products that are completely different from those under the Louis Vuitton brand. Therefore, there is no doubt that consumers will know that the two companies are not in any way related.
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