…landed Coperni in hot soup. Levi’s is suing them for trademark infringment

It isn’t easy being a buzzy brand. Sometimes the drone can be so loud that it draws the attention of those that you prefer were deaf. Unfortunately, for Coperni, visual noise can be audible too. They found out possibly to their brand’s detriment when Levi’s sued them for trademark infringment found in the deconstructed Levi’s garments that were worked into Coperni’s own designs without acknowledging the provenance of those parts. The jeans maker had also stated in the lawsuit filed in California federal court last week that the French brand used fabric tabs and stitching that bore similarities to those Levi’s employs. Coperni’s usage of said material, Levi’s claimed, may confuse customers as well as “deprive [the latter] of its rights to use and control [the] use of its trademarks and maintain its reputation with consumers, licensees, and collaborators, including the exclusive use of its trademarks on products and services that [it] creates, produces, licenses, and sells.”

In view of very real trademark sensitivities these days, it is not know why Coperni has not been more alert to the inclusion of garments—even parts of—that could be traced to an established brand. The use of vintage/secondhand/flea market finds by designers is not at all uncommon. Inexpensive vintage Levi’s jeans, for example, can be easily found in used clothing hubs such as Bangkok’s famed Chatuchak weekend market, where sellers of deconstructed garments made from pre-loved garments sourced next door are just as many. But Coperni is not an unknown brand selling their wares in a marché. Their popularity is built on hype, which naturally draws the attention of brands unafraid to use litigation to shield against perceived trademark threats.

The trousers pictured here and identified as Hybrid Flare Denim Trousers, was singled out. Admittedly, this pair of half-jeans is a clever reimagining of what the waist of a classic five-pocket, split into two parts and relocated above the knees and allowed to be pant-legs might look like. On their website, Coperni describes the €890 (or S$1,300) slacks for the lower half of legs attached to jersey upper half as “inventive, daring and playful” and “fusionist and futuristic”. It is not known why it did not occur to Coperni to collaborate with Levi’s, as so many other designers have, including Junya Watanabe and Eli Russell Linnetz (out this month). Perhaps “daring” has superseded ethical considerations. It really shouldn’t have.

Photo: Coperni