It’s all about the tree apparently . Maybe trees should be suing the pair of them and using that money to plant trees, we’d have less Balenciaga, less air freshners and more trees.. that’s what we’d call a result.
Fashion Blog reports..
Balenciaga’s $275 evergreen tree-shaped keychains have disappeared from the market. While the popular Paris-based brand seems to have been willing to quietly pull the pricey little leather accessories from its own e-commerce site and those of its stockists after they landed it at the center of an ugly copying lawsuit, Demna Gvasalia-helmed Balenciaga is fighting back.
On the heels of CAR-FRESHNER Corporation slapping Balenciaga’s American arm with a lawsuit in October, claiming that the brand’s keychains “are deliberately designed to replicate the [CAR-FRESHNER’s trade dress-protected] Tree Design,” right down the colorways, Balenciaga has formally responded to the allegations and is putting up a fight of its own by way of a long list of defenses, claims of wrongdoing on CAR-FRESHNER’s part, and a counterclaim of its own.
In its answer, which was filed in December, Balenciaga denies nearly all of CAR FRESHNER’s claims – including that it “act[ed] willfully, in bad faith, or with malicious intent” in making and selling the lookalike keychains, and that it attempted to “mislead the public into believing that [its] products emanate from CAR-FRESHNER Corporation” – and sets forth 12 affirmative defenses.
To get the ball rolling, Balenciaga’s counsel argues that CAR-FRESHNER is “not entitled to any [of the] relief [it] requested” in its complaint, including injunctive relief and monetary damages, because the Watertown, New York-based air freshener company has “suffered no recoverable damages,” lacks trademark rights in the Tree Design and even if it does have rights, Balenciaga’s keychain “does not constitute trademark use and/or is a fair use.”
