On the face of it, you wouldn’t think that fashion, design and law have much in common, apart from the association with a counterfeit lamp, or the clever high-heeled lawyer in the television series Ally McBeal.
Yet fashion, design and law are strongly connected and this observation is all the more important for the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant, since our region plays an important part in fashion. Question is: when is fashion freely available to the public, and when is fashion subject to counterfeit? A much-heard criterion in the fashion industry that it is not counterfeit if there are nine differences. However, this simple rule of the thumb is simply not true. Copyright often automatically applies to fashion and design, for example where clothes, accessories, design products, text, drawings and designs are concerned. Also, if you have a design made by a third party, or purchase fabrics with a design, copyrights are important. And what about the protection of your brand? What if someone uses a similar brand? Also, the way in which fashion and design are positioned in the market plays an important part. Companies may market their fashion and design products by way of agents, distributors, licensees, or franchisees. Differences between these legal forms may have totally different results and should therefore carefully be taken into consideration. We will gladly advise you about intellectual property rights, fashion, design and the corresponding commercial contracts. We have extensive experience in the worlds of advertising, fashion, shoes, designers etc.
In what ways can we assist you?
- Advice about intellectual property (copyrights, prototype rights, brand, trade name); whether you are accused of counterfeit or if someone else copies your products.
- Advice about the distribution of your products, licences, franchise agreements and agent’s agreements
- How to act in case of parallel imports and counterfeiting
- Due diligence
- International entrepreneurship: International entrepreneurship
- If you enter into contracts with foreign parties, you will come across aspects such as: which law applies, applicability of the Vienna Sales Convention yes/no, applicability of INCO terms yes/no and if so, which, etc. We can advise you about these aspects. Thanks to our international contacts, we will probably know a lawyer in the country of your trading partner, so that, if necessary, we are able to call in a local lawyer.
- Agreements with your customers or with parties who design for you
- Parallel imports and related matters
- Product liability and recall
- Purchasing and sales conditions
For whom?
- Clothing manufacturers
- Companies in the fashion industry
- Companies in the design industry
- Designers
- The textile branch
- Franchisors and franchisees
- Licensors and licensees
