Burberry succeeds in trade mark claim against rapper

The British fashion house Burberry has been victorious in a case against U.S. rapper Perry Moise, better known as Burberry Perry. Burberry had alleged that Moise's use of his name and other marks infringed trademarks which the fashion label had registered. The label also pointed out that they stood to suffer harm to their reputation given the nature of Moise's lyrics.

Not long after Burberry filed the claim Moise removed the Burberry trademark from his names on social media accounts. However, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York still issued an injunction prohibiting Moise from using the Burberry trademark until the case had come to a final decision.  This did not stop Moise's fans from leaving comments on Burberry's Instagram account criticising the fashion label for taking legal action.

The case came to a conclusion in November last year with the court handing down a judgment in favour of Burberry after Moise had decided not to respond to any court summons and failed to appear in court for the hearings.

The final ruling prohibits Moise, along with his agents and associates, from using the Burberry trademarks in order to market, advertise or promote Moise or his work. These marks include, amongst others, the fashion label's name and plaid print style which has become synonymous with the brand. The court held that Moise had to be in full compliance with the decision of the court by the 22nd November 2016.

However as of January 2017 Moise, contrary to the order of the court, has still not removed the Burberry trademarks from both his Instagram and Twitter accounts and is still using the Burberry name in his email address.  It is unclear if Burberry intends to pursue enforcement of the November ruling in order to protect the reputation which the label has built up worldwide.

If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniel & Co. on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.