The Braunschweig fashion retailer New Yorker has confirmed that it has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the US fashion group Levi’s. This is the latest step in an ongoing legal battle between the two companies.
For ten years now, Levi’s New Yorker has been looking not only at the fingers, but also at the buttocks: the point of contention is the back pockets on Levi’s jeans models, whose “V”-shaped seams New Yorker is said to have copied.
As early as 2014, the New Yorker was ordered to pay Levi’s damages of 50 euros per pair of pants sold. The fast fashion retailer was also banned from selling jeans models that look too similar to Levi’s.
The two companies have been arguing about this and other sticking points of trademark law for ten years and through all instances. New Yorker calls Levi’s settlement agreements “completely excessive” and points out that New Yorker is not an isolated case – from 2001 to 2007 Levi’s filed almost 100 lawsuits against the competition.
“Through this approach, Levi’s seems to want to create a profitable revenue stream at the expense of the competition. We won’t let it sit on us,” commented New Yorker owner Friedrich Knapp in a press release.
New Yorker has now filed an antitrust lawsuit because the Braunschweig-based company believes these agreements are illegal. “They restrict competition, have a major impact on the profitability of the companies concerned and can sometimes even endanger livelihoods,” the statement said.
restriction of competition
The New Yorker contends that Levi’s agreements “appear to be deliberately designed to expose the companies concerned to repeated alleged violations.” The company complains that the contractual penalties mentioned are “completely disproportionate” to any damage.
In addition, “entirely undisputed content” should also be included in the agreements. “One of the aims is that certain designs should be considered an infringement of Levi’s rights – even if the legal trademark laws do not prohibit these designs at all,” the New Yorker assumes.
The company also complains that brands are included that were not the subject of the dispute between the parties. “By law, mandatory trademark checks are thus bypassed to the detriment of Levi’s competitors,” says the New Yorker.
For the company, all evidence that Levi’s wants to “unjustifiably expand” the scope of protection of the brands and “severely restrict competitors”, which it sees as anti-competitive. “We will defend ourselves against this with all means possible,” announces Knapp and hopes for fellow campaigners from the industry.
Levi’s defends trademarks
Levi’s, on the other hand, refers to using some of the world’s oldest and most respected trademarks, such as “The Tab” – the small tab on pockets or seams that is often red but can also be orange, silver or white.
Levi’s invented the trademark in 1936, registered it in 1938 and has used it for over 80 years. Among other things, the company spends millions of dollars a year on advertising and promoting products with the “tab”, not to mention court costs, which has earned it the nickname “Trademark Bully” – only in November 2022 it went against the Californian Hammies brand, before that against the Australian brand Green Tab, Yves Saint Laurent, Vineyard Vines and Kenzo.