 "Emma Stone, Oscars, Academy Awars")
At the 89th Academy Awards in Hollywood on Sunday night — hours before everything went sideways on stage — Taraji Henson of Hidden Figures strode down the red carpet in a blue velvet gown from Alberta Ferretti that was dubbed “stunning” and “absolutely perfect”. Emma Stone accepted the Best Actress award for La La Land wearing a glimmering bronze Givenchy dress. And Viola Davis of Fences delivered a moving speech clad in a blazing scarlet number from Armani.
The red carpet at the Oscars has its own dedicated television and web shows filled with fawning (and acidic) commentators. The moment an outfit appears from the back seat of a limousine, it’s scrutinised from all sides. Fashion critics dissect trends, glossies, and cable squabble over who wore what best, and the labels try to figure out what’s catching on. It’s one huge advertisement, with celebrities paid to be runway models for a night before millions of captive eyes: If a dress or gown is a hit, dressmakers need to move fast.
As do the lawyers. The big fashion houses, some of which translate trends into affordable looks for retailers (few people are going to shell out thousands for a floor-length Valentino), must contend with unauthorised duplicates and adaptations that pop up in stores and websites almost instantaneously.
“Clothing design in the US is pretty vulnerable,” said Michelle Mancino Marsh, an intellectual property attorney specialising in fashion law at the firm Arent Fox. “It’s an art that doesn’t get respect.”
The easiest thing to protect is a trademarked logo, such as Louis Vuitton’s famous “LV” or Versace’s Medusa head. Though it’s common for logos to appear on clutches or other accessories, rarely do they appear on swanky gowns.
Everything else is much harder to defend as uniquely your own, and filing for a design patent or copyright protection often doesn’t happen until well after a look’s first public appearance. By then it’s generally too late.
Silhouettes, perhaps by definition, are hard to protect, which makes it almost impossible to claim that a strapless A-line dress is uniquely your own. But if it has some kind of distinctive flourish — a standout sash or belt buckle, say — that can be protected under intellectual property law. Patterns, such as a unique lace arrangement or floral configuration, qualify as well. (Something such as John Galliano’s tulle face design for Maison Margiela, for instance.)
Though many designers consider knockoffs a cost of doing business, bigger labels with deep resources are much more aggressive in protecting their turf. Every year, when the Oscars are over, armies of attorneys start a small war, said Marsh.
First come the cease-and-desist letters from the law firms, laying down the threat of litigation to deter less committed copycats, who may not wish to fund a costly defence. The attorneys also alert retailers and web commerce platforms, calling for items to be taken down from such sites as Amazon.com or Alibaba. But in many ways, it’s simply a show of force to guarantee that domestic offenders and retailers toe the line. Increasingly, the knockoffs are made and sold overseas and thus harder to reach legally.
“The big dress manufacturers here in the US, they know the law,” said Marsh. “They’re usually careful enough to change the dress just enough not to be considered a knockoff.”
© Bloomberg
