Clothing brand Levi Strauss has filed a lawsuit against French luxury label Kenzo over trademark infringement for putting tabs on the back of its jean’s pockets.
The complaint, filed with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, said Kenzo’s activities threaten to confuse shoppers and cause Levi to lose sales, suffering “incalculable and irreparable damage” to its goodwill.
According to Levi’s, since 1936 the distinctive tabs at the back pockets on their jeans are a mark of their product identity on all denim products, setting their jeans apart from other competitor brands.
Kenzo launched their new clothing line featuring Britney Spears “Kenzo presents Britney Spears – La Collection Memento No. 2” in March 2018, and it used the same labelling technique as Levi’s.
According to the lawsuit, the unit of LVMH ignored multiple cease and desist letters that asked for items with the pocket tags to be removed from sale.
The complaint quoted Leo Christopher Lucier, Levi’s National Sales Manager in 1936, as having said: “no other maker of overalls can have any other purpose in putting a coloured tab on an outside patch pocket, unless for the express and sole purpose of copying our mark, and confusing the customer.”
Levi is seeking to recoup lost profits, compensatory and punitive damages, and halt further infringements.
