G-Star Prosecute H&M For Infringing Trademark Rights

The picture is G-Star Raw partner Pharrell.

Exclusive news, G-Star in the long run with Sweden

The trademark struggle against the giant H&M has won the latest round.

Last night, the Hague District Court ruled on the case of Holland fashion brand G-Star Raw (G-Star) on the use of its "Raw" trademark.

Since the first registration of the "Raw" trademark in the EU Intellectual Property Office in 2005, G-Star has accumulated a certain number of entries, including clothing, for the Raw logo in various categories.

G-Star is a fashion brand in Holland. Founded in 1989, it is popular with musicians and fashion designers recently. Pharrell is its co founder and prosecuted H&M for copyright infringement in 2011.

Because H&M began selling t-shirts and sportswear with patterns, and its slogan was "Raw Beat Experience", with pictures of the text and sound on it.

G-Star claims that the use of the word "Raw" by H&M may mislead consumers to believe that they belong to or support H&M in a way.

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The reason why G-Star made this assertion is based on consumer survey. More than 30% of consumers think that the first brand they think of is "G-Star" after seeing the word "Raw".

H&M responded to G-Star's allegations, pointing out that G-Star's "Raw" trademark lacks effective trademark protection.

The Swedish fast fashion giant claims that "Raw" is merely a descriptive term, which may be used to define certain street culture and / or certain musical styles. Therefore, it is not protected by trademarks.

H&M further pointed out that the problem of T-shirts and hoodies sold only in their stores is not a source of confusion for consumers.

After hearing the case at the grass-roots court, the Hague District Court ruled that it agreed with G-Star's appeal. It was because the word "Raw" had a universal meaning and could not be directly related to G-Star, but this did not mean that it could not be regarded as the source of G-Star brand recognition, because the word was the core function of all its trademarks.

The court upheld the G-Star Raw's right to continue the use of the "Raw" trademark and believed that it had reason to become the G-Star brand's compass in the consumer's mind. This is based on the "Raw" trademark, which is usually used with G-STAR.

As for the question T-shirt, the court found that the word "Raw" was located.

It is shown in a prominent position and separated from other words (Beat Experience), separated by speakers in the middle, making it a very important design factor.

Therefore, the court held that the possibility of confusion caused by the use of "Raw" in H&M is a trademark infringement.

As to whether consumers will be confused about the "Raw" logo on H&M clothing, the court considers it entirely possible.

The Court pointed out that because H&M stores usually sell other brands and designers, such as Karl Lagerfeld and Viktor & Rolf products, consumers may think that these garments are the product of the cooperation of the two brands.

Although the case has been ruled out, some analysts say that the story is not over, considering the years of struggle between the two sides in this case.