US fashion brand Rhude Designs LLC (“Rhude”) has been accused of copying by Tokiko Sarl (“TOKIKO”), a fellow fashion company based in Paris, France. The design in question is TOKIKO’s ‘Monaco Grand Prix’ print used it on its clothing, and is a black and white cartographic drawing of Monaco city and features some type and animations of things such as cars and trees. TOKIKO and its co-founder, Anna Skoog, filed the complaint in the Paris Judicial Court.
TOKIKO states that it has marketed its design since May 2022 on posters and textiles also up for sale. However, concerns were raised at Paris Fashion Week in June 2023 as TOKIKO noticed its alleged infringing design during the showcase of Rhude’s new STRADA collection made up of clothing such as shirts, shorts and pants, with minor alterations to the original design. TOKIKO claims that infringing items of clothing bearing the near-replicated design were sold online and in physical stores in France.
The complaint asserts that TOKIKO sent formal cease-and-desist letters to Rhude in July and August 2024, and thus putting it on notice of the allegations of infringement, but Rhude failed to respond. Instead, it quietly removed the alleged infringing items from its website, but TOKIKO asserts that it re-uploaded items to its outlet site earlier this year which constitutes wilful and bad faith conduct. Now TOKIKO has claimed copyright infringement, unregistered community design right infringement, and parasitism, which in French law is the equivalent to unfair competition with the addition of free-riding on TOKIKO’s success and specifically allegations that Rhude has took advantage of the investment in the design, connected its own trade mark to the alleged infringing version of the design, and benefitted from TOKIKO’s brand reputation.
As a result, TOKIKO is seeking from Rhude €1 million Euros in damages, and independently Anna Skoog as the creator of the design is seeking €50,000 in compensation for the violation of her moral right. Together they seek an injunction that prohibits Rhude from further reproducing the design, destruction of existing stock, and recall of all products in circulation. Further they are seeking a public apology from Rhude, in that it is to publish the judgment on its website and in at least two fashion media outlets. Rhude is yet to respond to the claim, but it will be interesting to see the progress of this claim.
If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
