'Pocket Socks' slaps Louis Vuitton & Pharrell Williams with trademark lawsuit over $500+ socks with pockets

[Fashionabler]

 

Luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton and its celebrity creative director Pharrell Williams find themselves embroiled in a legal dispute. The cause? A product known as 'Pocket Socks’.

 

The lawsuit, filed by a California-based company, Pocket Socks Inc., alleges that the high-end ‘Pocket Socks’ launched by Louis Vuitton and Pharrell Williams infringe on their trademark. The company claims to have been operating under that name for more than a decade.

 

The ‘Pocket Socks’ in question, part of a line introduced by Pharrell Williams during Paris Fashion Week in 2023, are knitted socks featuring a pocket adorned with a pearl. Retailing at a staggering $565 per pair, these socks have garnered significant attention and publicity.

 

 

However, Pocket Socks Inc. argues that this publicity is causing "irreparable" damage to their brand. They maintain that they have been using the ‘Pocket Socks’ name since 2012 for their own line of socks, which feature a zippered pocket sewn into each pair.

 

Besides the trademark, the lawsuit also alleges infringement of the so-called “trade dress” — meaning the actual look of the product. The sale of similar-looking socks under the same name is “likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive consumers,” the lawsuit claims.

 

According to Pocket Socks' website, the company was granted the patent for “sock with zippered pocket” in October 2022, and has trademarked “Pocket Socks.”

 

"It's a real David and Goliath story. This massive luxury brand and their designer Pharrell Williams should know better and behave within the law," Pocket Socks' CEO and inventor Evan Papel said in a press release.

 

As this legal battle unfolds, it raises questions about the responsibilities of large brands and their awareness of existing trademarks. What do you think? Should big brands be more diligent in their product research?

 

 

Read more:

• https://www.worldipreview.com/trademark/lvmh-and-pharrell-williams-sued-over-dollar500-pocket-socks
• https://www.prlog.org/13026420-pocket-socks-inc-takes-stand-against-louis-vuitton-and-pharrell-williams-for-trademark-infringement.html
• https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2024/06/28/pharrell-williams-louis-vuitton-pocket-socks-trademark-suit/
• https://www.billboard.com/pro/pharrell-williams-louis-vuitton-lawsuit-pocket-socks/
• https://www.wbls.com/news/pharrell-williams-and-louis-vuitton-sued-for-500-pocket-socks/

 

Images: Jahanzaib Naiyyer, Turkbug | Dreamstime.com