Trade Dress May Be a Tough IP to Protect

It is going to be fun watching Givenchy prove that their purse-buying audience identifies the Givenchy brand by the double stitched horizontal and vertical stripes that make up its “Nightengale” trade dress and that it claims BCBG is knocking off, thereby capitalizing on the Givenchy goodwill.  The case is Givenchy S.A. v. BCBG Max Azria Group, Inc. CV10-8394 (C.D. Cal. 2010), and Givenchy is seeking damages and an injunction to prohibit further sales of the BCBG offering.