Louis Vuitton wins Singapore copycat case

Luxury brand Louis Vuitton has successfully sued a Singapore retailer for selling imitations of its goods.

The High Court in Singapore ordered Cuffz, a retailer located in Raffles City shopping centre, to pay Louis Vuitton $35,000 in statutory damages for selling wallets which, in the court’s view, “imitated” the French brand’s own products.

The wallets bore the ‘Epi Mark’, Louis Vuitton’s trademark interweaving ridges and valley in a recognisable two-tone effect, according to court documents.

Assistant court registrar Edwin San issued a strongly worded written decision  observing Cuffz “demonstrated a contumelious disregard” for Louis Vuitton’s intellectual property rights and was a business which “flagrantly dealt in counterfeit goods”.

The store closed in May last year soon after a police raid led to the seizure of allegedly infringing goods centreplace in this case.

While the victory marks a clear win for Louis Vuitton, with the court’s decision leaving little room for misinterpretation, similar such cases in the past have been less clear cut.

In Hong Kong, six years ago, LV withdrew criminal charges against high profile watch retailer City Chain for trademark infringement, alleging it used the LV flower design in a range of watches. Judges concluded that while the flower patterns were similar to Louis Vuitton’s, they were not identical.

Louis Vuitton had sought $100,000 in damages – but the case was never about money. It was about Louis Vuitton sending a message to retailers that it was prepared to actively protect its trademarks and intellectual property.