FASHION LAW: YSL VICTORIOUS IN FEUD WITH H&M

Infamous 2007 trend, the YSL Tribute Tote

Word to the wise, do not get on H&M’s bad side—a side that luxury fashion brand Yves Saint Laurent (Saint Laurent Paris) seems to have been on for some time. The latest news, however, in this fashion feud is YSL’s victory over H&M in an ongoing battle involving handbags.

So what’s the basis of this case? Well, H&M openly dissed its luxe competitor by declaring so boldly that YSL’s “Tribute bag” lacked character and was “generic.” Ok, so what’s the problem with a bit a street talk? Well, back in 2006, YSL applied for two Community designs for handbag plans that H&M—three years later—opposed on the grounds that these bags had no “individual character.” Furthermore, H&M challenged a previous design.

Just last week the European Union’s General Court sided with the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) and dismissed the case ordering H&M to pay court costs and those costs incurred by YSL. OHIM ruled that YSL’s “degree of freedom was high.” The court verdict stated that “it must be held that the difference between the designs at issue are significant and that similarities between them are insignificant in the overall impression which they produce.”

Officials from both brands declined to comment.

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