Levi's Turns To Suing Rivals

The New York Times
By:Michael Barbaro and Julie Creswell
January 29, 2007

As all of us know Levi’s introduced the first pair of jeans almost 133 years ago and since then they have emerged as the most infamous apparel company for trademark infringement lawsuits. Levi’s claims that their competitors have stole their trademark, the back-pocket intersecting arc stitching and the red cloth label on the right pocket. They have filed nearly 100 lawsuits since 2001 to companies like Von Dutch Originals, Guess, Zegna, Esprit, Lucky Brand, Zumiez, and Rock & Republic just to name a few. The competitors feel that these accusations are the cry of a company that has missed many promising opportunities in the denim industry. But at the same time all the companies that have been sued by Levi’s have made some type settlement to destroy, or never to produce jeans that copy their trademark. Levi’s states that they are just trying to preserve their intellectual property by protecting its most valuable asset; their signature trademark. Levi’s hires denim detectives (40 worldwide) to look at boutiques and department stores to check for jeans that violate their patent.
Many companies have fought to protect their design trademark like Lacoste; with it’s alligator, Polo Ralph Lauren; with it’s polo player, and Nike; with it’s swoosh.

...Wendy Carrasco...

Timex Secures Lincense With Fashion Icon Valentino

Timex Group will create, produce and distribute a luxury watch collection under the Valentino brand name, following a new agreement between the two companies. The companies expect annual retail turnover for the collection to exceed $77.6 million.

Fashion icon Valentino will participate in the design of the timepieces, and both his company and Timex Group will work on development initiatives in global luxury markets.

"The expertise and the strong results achieved by Timex Group in high-quality watchmaking will enable Valentino to reach a leadership segment in a growing segment of the luxury market,” Valentino Chief Executive Officer Stefano Sassi said in a statement. “The strong attention to style and quality of the product, together with an innovative plan developed with the partner, reassert the ambitions of growth of our brand.”

I think its good that a well known company like Timex is designing watches for Valentino. There are to many companies who license out their names to other companies who produce products thats arent that high in quality. I think the watches will be a huge sucess.

Rubie's Costumes Signs a Deal with Bratz in Time for Next Halloween

By: Laura O'Donnell

Rubie’s Costumes is a Halloween costume company that is licensed with many brands including Barbie, Disney, Curious George, Superman, Tom and Jerry, and many more. Recently, they have acquired the rights to MGA Entertainment’s Bratz Doll line which is a growing brand for the tween market. This new deal consists of Rubie’s designing Bratz costumes and accessories that will be available in October 2007; just in time for the Halloween season. Some of the Bratz accessories available for tweens this Halloween will be wigs, jewelry, and make-up kits.

According to the article, Howard Beige (Vice President of Sales for Rubie’s) is “thrilled that MGA Entertainment has given [him] the opportunity to be the licensee of Bratz.” I can see how he would be considering Bratz are one of the most popular toys right now for young girls. Sales at Rubie’s will most likely increase greatly because of this agreement.

Riding hip jeans into new luxury markets

“You might think that for a young brand, netting $100 million in sales of $100-plus jeans is a sure sign of success. And indeed, labels such as True Religion, Rock & Republic, Citizens of Humanity, and 7 for All Mankind have graced the pages of fashion bibles like Vogue and Elle, and are sold in high-end stores from Saks to Barneys New York. But for this new generation of fashion startups, "premium"—or $100-plus—jeans are just the springboard for launching up market lifestyle brands. Many are entering 2007 by offering expanded lines of clothes, accessories, outerwear, eyewear—even a hotel—that they hope will boost customer loyalty and fully establish them as multicategory brands. The key for Paper Denim + Cloth and the more expensive premium-denim labels alike as they expand will be to keep their brands consistent and distinctive. As they translate their casual-chic brand identities into numerous new products and begin to compete with more established lifestyle brands such as Polo Ralph Lauren, these premium-denim companies face a design and marketing challenge that will require more than just fancy stitching on back pockets.”

I think that there are positive outcomes and negative outcomes of high brand jeans like true Religion and 7 for all mankind to expand their clothing lines, by offering accessories, outerwear and eyewear. A positive outcome is that the brand will expand and become better known not just by their jeans but by the other products they are preparing to sell, and thus make more money.
I personally love 7 for all Mankind jeans; they fit well and are fashionable. By the company expanding their business, the thought and creativeness put into their jeans may not exist as it does today. Also, as they create new products, there brand name may go down as their products may not be as nice or have the same high quality as their jeans do. Usually when a brand starts licensing themselves, and puts their brand name on other things, it makes the brand less high quality, and could possibly ruin their reputation.
Companies like true religion and 7 for all man kind are great at what they do. They have great jeans and even though they are very expensive because of their quality and fashionable, people pay high prices for the jeans. Making jeans is what the brand is known for, so I think that they should stick with what they do well instead of spreading out and creating other items that is so, so. Being great at making one thing, is better than being just ok at making various things.

Jessica Kaplan

Yahoo Planning to create "Brand Universe"

"SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 30 — Yahoo said Tuesday that it planned to build individual Web sites around 100 entertainment “brands” this year that would pull together content from Yahoo’s sprawling array of online properties. The effort, called Brand Universe, is intended to create online destinations that will draw large audiences around individual movies, television shows, bands, celebrities, games and other types of entertainment."

This is an interesting move for yahoo, they currently hold one of the largest interenet audiences and have recently revamped their staff and this initiative("Brand Universe") is currently on the agenda. Building websites for other companies(i.e. brands) will potentially give their existing websites a boost in media technology, and increase the overall audiences of both yahoo and the brand it is promoting. Yahoo plans on paying for this project through advertising and both Yahoo and partner companies will see large profits if this is a sucess; because this is a massive project with almost 100 willing participants. However this entire project is completely unlicensed. Yahoo will essentially pick the brands they like most and make the brand a new website. The chairman of the "Brand Universe" acknowledges the fact that there could be potential tensions with brands who want to make their own new websites. Nevertheless, he will not ask for any permission to create the websites, he will simply stop an operation if a brand owner does not want his services.

"Mr. Broady acknowledged that there could be tensions with some content owners who were trying to create online destinations of their own. The company said it did not plan to ask permission from the owners before creating the sites, but would not proceed if the owners objected. "

I believe this "Brand Universe" is a little out of the ordinary and is worth noting because very few industries(maybe none besides internet technology) would you find one corporation doing business with another corportation in which the task involves using the latter corporation's branding. This is truly a licensing anomaly and it will be very interesting to keep track of Yahoo's progessions or digressions on its "Brand Universe" project.
by Giovanni Silva

USA : Perry signs licensing agreement with Falic Fashion for fragrances

fibre2fashion.com

January 30, 2007

Perry Ellis Intl. Inc.

Perry Ellis International Inc announced that it has entered into a worldwide licensing agreement with Falic Fashion Group LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Duty Free Americas Inc, to manufacture and distribute perfumery, fragrances, lotions, toiletries and cosmetics under the Perry Ellis brand. As well, Perry Ellis International finalized an agreement to sell to Falic Fashion Group all inventory and other related assets of the fragrance business. Both agreements are effective immediately.

The Falic Fashion Group LLC, is a member of the Falic Group of companies, which are involved in the retail sale, manufacture and international distribution of luxury goods.Falic Fashion Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Duty Free Americas Inc, the largest duty free retail store operator in North America. In my opinion its good that Falic Fashion group gave the rights to Perry Ellis to sell their products, because now they can combine each others merchandise. They also now have a greater opurtunity to come up with brighter and better ideas. I feel that Perry Ellis will most likely maximize income with this key product category.

Angelica Swierad

Transforming Yoga Pants

"Yoga Company Gets Practical With New Line"
Published: WWD, January 19, 2007
By:Whitney Beckett

A young yoga instructor, Jyanna Nichols has recently started her own line of yoga gear, called YoginiStyle- based out of NC. She has noticed and experienced for herself the problem with yoga pants and how they will never stay up while doing positions such as the downward dog pose. After many frustrating classes of pulling up her pants so that her panties wouldn't show, she motivated to fix the problem, and finally started to sew thongs into her yoga pants so that they would stay together. As of right now, the patent for her product is pending. Since there is no other product of its kind. In November, her line started to sell to yoga boutiques and studios, and it really took off. With in the next few weeks, 4 other yoga websites picked up her line, while also selling through direct mail and on her personal website. She has extended her idea to 'hit every physical fitness activity a woman could do', while YoginiStlye's main goal remains to give women one less thing to worry about.

I think that Yoginistyle has a great concept, and it has been proven that other women from all around the country think so, too. I love the fact that even while the patent for her product is still pending, the need of exercise gear that hides what needs to be hidden allows women to concentrate more on their fitness rather than being insecure about their underwear, or anything else popping out!

By: Krista Gennell

Badgley Mischka Gets Intimate

Badgley Mischka Gets Intimate
By Karyn Monget

The first collection of lingerie bearing the Badgley Mischka Couture name will be launched for holiday.The licensing deal with Ariela-Alpha International was coordinated by Badgley Mischka's parent, the Iconix Brand Group, which started a number of licenses for Badgley Mischka last year, including fragrance, handbags, eyewear and cold-weather accessories. Daywear and sleepwear will be added next year, as well as a secondary lingerie label, Badgley Mischka Platinum.The compact line of signature embroidered and beaded bras and coordinating undies will be a "natural progression for our couture clothes," said Mark Badgley. "One problem was, customers would say, ‘Oh, my gosh, what do we wear under these clothes?' It's always been a big part of what we do and we've always been trying to build in the proper corsetry in our evening gowns, but it never worked, so we are launching this [intimates] collection. Our customer always loves beautiful underpinnings."

I think this will be a good step to help Mischka expand her product line.

-Gwen Rutkowski

Calvin Klein Tees Off With Windsong

Calvin Klein Tees Off With Windsong
By Marc Karimzadeh

NEW YORK — Calvin Klein Inc. is stepping onto the fairway.CKI inked a licensing deal with Windsong Sport LLC, the division of the Windsong Allegiance Group, to launch the Calvin Klein Golf collection. Windsong will manufacture and distribute the line, which will be part of the company's better-priced white label assortment and include women's and men's golf apparel as well as accessories. Windsong Sport president Fran Matthews also will become president of the company's new Calvin Klein Golf division.Kevin Carrigan, creative director for ck Calvin Klein and the better-priced Calvin Klein white label, will work on the line, which takes its cues from the clean, modernist aesthetic of the brand, with a main focus on knits, including sweaters, pants, shorts and outerwear, as well as golf accessories and shoes.

I think this is a good step for Calvin Klein. It seems like Calvin Klein's image was slowly fading from what it was in the early 90s. I think this will help expand Calvin Klein's product line and build a new and better image for the company.

-Gwen Rutkowski

Calvin Klein Tees Off With Windsong

WWd.com
Published Friday, January 26, 2007

Calvin Klein “Tees off” with Windsong Sports LLC, to launch a Calvin Klein Golf collection. This line will include women’s and men’s golf apparel and accessories. This line will include sweaters, pants, knits, outerwear and shoes. The price points will range on a scale of $80.00 to $100.00 for a pair of pants and $100.00 to $225.00 for a sweater. The line will first be launched for the up coming holiday season and will be sold in specialty stores.
It always amazes me how brands such as Calvin Klein build an image and once they build their image they continue to grow and develop, with that continuing to develop new lines and products to better service its client. I feel a Calvin Klein client is a typical golfer, who would most defiantly purchase an outfit for the course from the new Golf collection. I am anxious to see what this line has to offer, as I am sure it is going to be a clean cut, modern looking line that all will enjoy wearing.

April Garbaccio

Carhartt Adds Women's Line To Assortment

WWD.com
Published Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

Carhartt work gear has just introduced a women's line of work clothing in addition to their men's work gear line. Carhartt is launching their women's line starting in May of 2007. As stated in the article more and more women today are blue collar workers. This leads to a great opportunity for Carhartt to go forward with their line and capture the interests of the blue collared working women. I think Carhartt is taking steps in the right direction by producing a full women's line complete with accessories, as well as marketing to the fastest growing segment. It is great that Carhartt is producing a women's line i feel they will be very successful targeting this segment of women. The Carhartt name is already a well known name in the workman's force that i feel they will not have any problems getting their women's line off the ground. When you produce and sell a quality product your name is known.


April Garbaccio

Diesel Wins Injunction in Copyright Case

WWD.COM
Jan. 11, 2007
By: JeaninePoggi

Diesel U.S.A. won a permanent injunction and final judgment on consent against Chic Lady Ltd. and its owner, Michael Kamali, for copyright infringement. According to court documents, Diesel filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in October 2005 against wholesale apparel and accessories retailer Chic Lady for allegedly using its stylized "D" trademark and the "Diesel-Only-The-Brave-Diesel" trademark on Chic Lady jeans. Under the terms of the judgment, Chic Lady is restrained from reproducing the jeans or any other merchandise with the Diesel trademarks.
I think that it's ridiculus that Diesel has to deal with something as pettie. They are such a large company that they have other problems they need to deal with, but at least they settled this situation. Hopefully it won't happen again.

Christina Hilken

Youtube's content deleted due to inproper citing

Recently as I browsed through youtube's video library in search of a particular sports clip, I came to find out that youtube has been deleting certain material due to improper citing. The video clip I was searching for could not be played because it did not give proper credit to ESPN. Three days later the video was completely erased and others just like it were also removed. Many believe this occurrence is only the begging of a total revamping of youtube's website content. I personally would agree with those who argue in favor of removing improperly citied information, because not only are people stealing information, but they are morphing these videos into their own work which is even worse than just blatantly stealing. by Giovanni Silva

Ruckus Is Free For All Students!

" Ruckus, the legal music downloading service, is now free for all college students nationwide. Every student on America’s college and university campuses now has free and legal access to the world’s first, advertising supported college-only, music download service, Ruckus, from Ruckus Network, Inc. The Ruckus service, previously available only at schools with contractual agreements with Ruckus, can now be accessed by any student with a valid .edu email account. With today’s announcement, Ruckus users everywhere now have easy and immediate access to the recently expanded library of more than 2.1 million high fidelity, virus-free music tracks from every major label, as well as an impressive and expansive list of independent labels. Ruckus eliminates copyright infringement through its licensing agreements with all of the major international record labels, as well as thousands of independent labels and artists."

I think that this is a great idea to allow students on college campuses to download music free off the internet. They would do it anyway illegally and I think that it’s great that Ruckus partnered up with colleges to make this possible for students. Even if you don’t go to a school that has a contractual agreement with Ruckus, you are still able to download songs with a valid .edu email address. This is especially good because we attend a college that not many people have heard about, and doesn’t have a huge population. If Ruckus only allowed students that go to schools with contractual agreements with ruckus, we wouldn’t be able to use it.This new policy is not only good for us students, but also, it gives new artists a chance to be heard, and become known across college campuses throughout the US, because of their recently expanded library of independent labels.

Jessica Kaplan
http://www.ruckusnetwork.com/pressrelease.php?id=62

Musical Energy Drinks

Rock Stars Sell Their Souls
ABC NEWS
Jan. 24th, 2007
By Susan Donaldson James

The boom in energy drinks has rose dramatically over the past few years. Recently one new company has promised to rid your brain of "purple haze." The new drink called "Liquid Experience" features Jimi Hendrix on the can. The musical artist who died from a drug overdose in the 70s was known as one of the greatest guitarist of all times.

The drink is due out in April by the New Zealand company, Beverage Concepts. Although it is said that some profits will go to charity, this is another example of how companies are using the star power of the elderly or dead for capitalizing.


Jade Furtado

coach to release their first fragrance

First, Coach handbags, and then wallets, silk scarves, watches, sunglasses, ipod cases, coats (you get the idea) and now their first fragrance. This year Coach will release their first fragrance in all of its US stores in March. It is being produced by BeautyBank, which is a branch of Estee Lauder Cosmetics. Coach decided to use BeautyBank because they have never done any licensing with an upscale brand such as Coach. BeautyBank currently produces fragrance lines for Kohl's department store, and now with their agreement with Coach, it can potentially steer other upscale labels to work with BeautyBank. The Coach scent includes such aromas as tart green mandarin, guava, violet petals, water lily, genet flower, honey, orange flower, mimosa, jasmine, sandalwood, amberwood, and vanilla. The design of the bottle includes the signature C's and the infamous hang-tag seen on all Coach handbags. The new Coach Resort Collection is based upon the new fragrance and its bottle design. There will be a 1.7 oz eau de parfum spray ($68), a solid perfume ($40), and a purse spray($42). The Coach stores will feature the fragrance in its windows, catalogs, and will spray it in the store. Ads will be seen in magazines starting next month.


I think it's an awesome idea that Coach is coming out with a perfume. They have so many things to offer a client and now having a fragrance will add to the list. I think it is also a good move for Coach to sign a contract with a lesser known licenser such as Beauty Bank because if the fragrance is successful, more popular labels might catch interest in Beauty Bank, and their reputation would grow within the industry.

- Victoria Gutierrez
wwd.compublished 1/19/07

Girls Next Door at Virgin Megastore

LicenseMag.com
Published 1/1/07

The Girls Next Door and Virgin?? Seems like an unlikley pair, but in the fall of 2006 Playboy and Virgin Megastores Inc. came together to sign a deal to feature a "Girls Next Door" apparel line sold exclusivley at Virgin Megastores nationwide. The line is inspired by each of the three girls' unique personalities, and includes tanks tops, underwear, sleep masks, and trucker hats. They will also carry an assortment of boxers and T-shirts for the male fans. At the opening Hugh Hefner explained this decision by saying "After the girls’ TV debut, we realized fans were drawn to their wardrobes on the show. It was a natural brand extension to create an apparel line that reflected their individual fashion styles.”

In my opinion this is a smart licensing deal because with the popularity of the show it has brought Playboy to a new audience and it seems like a perfect opportunity for Playboy to expand their brand into newer and larger stores. So far the product has been seeling well and they plan to bring a new spring collection into the stores.

~Hannah Dilworth

Riding Hip Jeans Into New Luxury Markets

A new generation of denim firms are launching upscale lifestyle brands

By Reena Jana
BusinessWeek Online
Jan 22, 2007

“You might think that for a young brand, netting $100 million in sales of $100-plus jeans is a sure sign of success. And indeed, labels such as True Religion, Rock & Republic, Citizens of Humanity, and 7 for All Mankind have graced the pages of fashion bibles like Vogue and Elle, and are sold in high-end stores from Saks to Barneys New York.”

What many successful high-end denim designers are doing today is expanding their premium denim lines to lifestyle brands. Most denim companies are producing denim as a start to then branch out to other markets. Consumers today are welling to buy expensive jeans because they see it as an investment. Jeans nowadays are worn everywhere from the office to school and in the weekends to the clubs. But some brands aren’t doing as well in sales as others are. As for traditional jean manufacturer like the Gap is doing so bad in sales that they are even talking about a buyout. Some companies have announced licensing agreements for scarves, footwear, and outerwear. For example in 2006, Rock & Republic launched an accessories line, shoes, bags, and eyewear. They also plan to expand into cosmetics and even into a Rock & Republic boutique hotel in 2007. Paper + Denim + Cloth is a premium denim brand which plans to do the opposite of working their way up from denim to a clothing line and so on. They plan to develop lower priced jeans of $80-$90. They plan to keep their name brand because it will help consumer recognize the brand faster. The denim market is a fair easy market to get into because the silhouette and construction of jean are very simple, the pant legs, pockets, belt-loops, and fly never change. The only part of jeans that may change is the lowered waistband or skinnier legs. The biggest challenge for these companies are maintaining the differences between the brands and marketing them self’s to the right targeted consumer.

...Wendy Carrasco...

Cisco Sue Apple Over iPhone Trademark

Cisco Sue Apple Over iPhone Trademark
By: Ken Fisher
Published 1/10/07

Cisco has sued Apple over the iPhone name a day after media reports suggested that Apple was licensing the name from the networking giant. Cisco acquired the trademark "iPhone" in 2000 from InfoGear Technology (which itself filed in 1996), and was apparently unable to reach an agreement with Apple. It now appears as though Cisco is going to force Apple's hand.

The name iPhone was already trademarked by Cisco so Apple had no right using it. The article mentions that Apple has spoken to Cisco about using the name but there was never a licensing agreement to seal the deal. It's not fair to Cisco they never agreed to let Apple use the name and yet when the phone was first introducted in late 2006 they used it anyway. Cisco has every right to take Apple to court.

Kate Rindler

Legislation Calls for Trademark Bullies

President Bush signed a legislation last October stating large businesses with famous trademarks can sue businesses who have similar names “regardless of the presence or absence of actual of likely confusion, of competition, or of actual economic injury.” Before the legislation was signed, the law was more strict towards companies suing others. In 2003, Victoria’s Secret claimed an adult novelty store, named Victor’s Little Secret, damaged their good name. The court sided with the novelty store instead of Victoria’s Secret. This was because they were not able to prove actual harm toward the brand. Since lower standards are now set, large corporations are going to be going after the little companies whose names resemble theirs. For example, there has been a recent case between Starbuck’s Coffee and Sambuck’s Coffee, a tiny coffee shop in Oregon. Starbucks sued the owner because she refused to change the name of her shop after they offered her 10,000. The judge ended up in favor of Starbucks. Another case was between The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Jewish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which was a for-profit website co-founded by Jeffrey Goldberg. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame sued the website for confusing the public. In the end, the name was changed to Jewsrock.com.

Madame Tussauds Honors the Beckhams' Arrival to the US

Madame Tussauds wax museum is offering its visitors the wax figures of soccer celebrity David Beckham and his wife, former Spice Girl Victoria. These was look alikes were imported from London and will be on display for the world to see in two weeks. This appearance at the wax museum is to put more anticipation into the American world. The couple will be posed at the Times Square museum with her head resting on his chest and his arm wrapped around her shoulder. The museum said that they are very excited for the new comers coming to the museum and America.


I think this is very exciting and I will be going to see these two beautiful wax figures as soon as they are up. I think this just brings in more anticipation for Americans and get us ready for the arrival of the beckham's. I am sure the wax figures will look just as beautiful as the real like people. I am very glad that the wax figures will be in New York. It will be very convenient for me to go see the figures.

Done by the wonderful and talented Dana Vladimir

Speedo in Licensing Deal with Mitsui & Co.

WWD.com
Published January 2, 2007
By Samantha Conti

London- Speedo has formed a new strategic alliance in Japan with Mitsui & Co. which is one of the largest corporate conglomorates in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world. The London based sports and swimwear company has granted the master license for Speedo to the Japanese company in a deal begining June 1.

As we all know Speedo is currently the world’s largest selling swimwear brand that manufactures products for both recreational and competitive swimming. With Speedo forming this alliance with Mitsui it will bring even a bigger profit into the company. Considering Mitsui being one of the largest corporate conglomerates in Japan, Speedo will become even more recognized and have the ability to grow into something bigger one day. I feel that this is something positive for Speedo considering it’s a brand that is used from day to day by many athletes.

Angelica Swierad

Disney Begins Licesing Out Children's Fragrances

Source: WWD, page 7
Date published: 1/19/07
Title: 'Mickey Mous May Boost Mass Fragrance Sales'
Written by Faye Brookman

Since licensing products is really hot right now , and it seems that just about every celebrity has their own line or fragrance, Disney is now taking on a new line of fragrances for children. As of right now, the cosmetic and fragrance depts. have been a little behind schedule in terms of revenue, and retailers are hoping that by targeting a new market that has been hard to sell to in the past... Children. By using popular Disney characters such as Tinkerbell, Ariel, Nemo, Strawberry Shortcake, and other Disney princesses, will appeal little girls, while using Disney movies like "Cars" and "Pirates of the Carribbean" will attract the boys. Air Val, who will be handling the distribution of the Disney Fragrances believe that younger consumers will quickly jump at the offer of body sprays just for them. The fragrances will cost around $12, and will be great gifts from grandparents, aunts & uncles, etc. Retailers have been searching for a new approach to get customers to spend more money in fragramce sales, and by offering a new product to a new market seems like the way to go.

I honestly believe that currently children are not interested too much in the aroma they give off when they enter a room! But their love for Disney movies and products seems like a good approach to catch their eye and lure them into becoming interested in parfums and cologne at an early age. Although this seems like a great way to make money to a non-existing market, could this be pushing children to grow up at an even faster rate than they are already? I mean now-a-days, little girls know the serial numbers of that Louis Vuitton bag they want, have clothes that mock the current junior trends, and now, soon enough, they are going to start wearing Chance, by Chanel at the age of 11!!

Krista Gennell
1/22/07
Licensing- Section 02

Got Beckham?

David Beckham Is the New Milk Image in the US
Category: SOFTPEDIA NEWS :: Sports

The England midfielder signed a contract with American producer "Got Milk"
By: Ovidiu Panzariu, Sports Editor

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


David Beckham is in serious money crisis. He must be. Otherwise, we cannot explain why he signed a deal with American milk producer “Got Milk”. I mean, we have to admit that milk and Football don’t quite get along. The English star stunned everybody when he decided he’s gonna be the new image of “Got Milk”. Down the road, there are many celebrities who have made the same decision: Madonna, Muhammad Ali, Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford.

“The fact that we succeeded in signing David Beckham as our new image on the market is a huge thing for us. I’m sure it will have a great effect on the market and we’re happy to have given Becks his first contract in the US”, said a “Got Milk” official. This is the biggest contract David Beckham has signed in his entire carrier.

The England midfielder will appear in a “Don Quijote” kind of image, wearing a milk mustache. The image is a success in the States already, since many of the American showbiz stars have shot the same kind of pictures in the past. Becks picture with the milk mustache will appear on every “Got Milk” billboard in USA starting next month.

-Gwen Rutkowski

Cracking Down on Fakes

Published: Friday, December 01, 2006
Cracking Down on Fakes: Luxury Firms File Suits Against Chinatown Landlord
By Liza Casabona

NEW YORK — As the holiday shopping season kicks off, top luxury firms have stepped up efforts to protect their brands.Louis Vuitton Malletier, Burberry Limited UK, Burberry Limited U.S., Marc Jacobs Trademarks, Givenchy, Loewe S.A., Celine S.A. and Kenzo S.A. have filed a trademark counterfeiting and infringement lawsuit against a Chinatown landlord in Manhattan federal court.According to court documents, the lawsuit was filed against the estate of Vincent Terranova, the landlord of a number of properties located on Canal Street, and Terranova Real Property Management Corp., which manages and operates the properties. The specific addresses named in the lawsuit are 224 Canal, 226 Canal, 226A Canal, 234-238 Canal, 120 Walker Street and 120A Walker Street.The lawsuit was filed Nov. 21, but was only recently made available. Lawyers for Terranova Real Property Management could not be reached for comment by press time.Louis Vuitton, Burberry and the other named plaintiffs alleged that tenants at the properties named in the lawsuit were selling counterfeit merchandise that infringed on the firms' registered trademarks and copyrights.

I think that these designers pressing charges against this man is a very good thing. I feel that what these conartists are doing isn't fair to the designers at all. These designers spent a lot of time and effort in creating these designs. It's not fair to them that these men that just want to make a quick buck are coming along and stealing these designers ideas and creations. They are robbing designers of their creativity and I think that this action is long overdue.
-Gwen Rutkowski

Licensing 2--Spring 2007

Spring 2007