The parent company of Dr Martens has filed a lawsuit against online fashion retailers Boohoo, Nasty Gal and Pretty Little Thing (PLT).
As reported by The Fashion Law, an AirWair complaint filed on July 16 at the US District Court for the Northern District of California made allegations of trademark infringement and dilution, unfair competition and breach of contract.
AirWair said it owns several trade dress registrations for its popular Dr Martens brand, which Boohoo, Nasty Gal and PLT “have been copying since as early as 2016”.
It said the brands trade on “the goodwill and reputation” that it has spent decades developing, adding that their “apparent business model is to copy the distinctive look of other brands rather than invest in creating something new and unique”.
The infringement has been continuous since 2016, said the Germany-based company. The suit named four styles of allegedly infringing shoes currently sold by both Boohoo and PLT on their websites and two sold by Nasty Gal.
It said the boots were “confusingly similar and unlawfully copy the distinctive Dr Martens trade dress”. AirWairs said the retailers had “made clear they have no intention of stopping their infringement and instead intend to reap the benefits of AirWair’s brand recognition for as long as possible”.
According to the complaint, AirWair sent cease and desist letters to both Boohoo and Nasty Gal in 2017, but these went ignored.
It said it had entered into a settlement agreement with PLT in 2017, but this had been breached by the alleged infringement.
AirWair asked the court to grant it a permanent injunction against the three retailers and monetary damages of up to $1,000,000 per counterfeit mark.
