Rights to a Christmas sweater, really?

Flashback.
Starting point: the Isabel Marant VS H&M affair

In 2020, Isabel Marant attacks H&M. 🥊

At issue:

• an Isabelle Marant "cosmic and esoteric" jacket (stars, esoteric symbols, metallic threads, sequins),
• an H&M jacket in the same visual universe.

The following are cited:

Copyright, design rights, unfair competition.

The judges will be answering a key question:
How do you draw the line between a creation inspired by a common visual language and a truly original, protectable creation?

Lesson one: the "common genre

On the copyright side, the court noted:

• the cosmic/esoteric universe is a strong trend,
• motifs (stars, mystical symbols, metallic threads) have become commonplace,
• the jacket doesn't stand out enough from earlier creations.

Result:

👉 The "cosmic" universe is treated as a non-appropriable common genre.
❌ no originality → no copyright protection.

Lesson two: design protection

Design & model:

• the Marant jacket is deemed valid as a design to be protected (own character),
• but for counterfeiting, the judges compare the combination:
  • different motifs,
  • different layout,
  • details specific to H&M.

Conclusion:

same trend, but different combination → different overall impression → no copying, no counterfeiting.

👉 Protection exists, but the perimeter is very narrow.

& the Christmas sweater then?

Now let's take a look at this Christmas sweater - claimed to be ugly by the eponymous brand itself - now registered as a model with the INPI:

• red background,
• small white flakes,
• large cartoon reindeer in the center,
• 3D pompom red nose,
• clearly visible striped scarf.

Question:

Although registered, is this model really protected?

Christmas, another "common genre

The world of Christmas, and more specifically of the "ugly Christmas sweater", is also :

• ultra-coded: red, green, snowflakes, reindeer, Santa Claus...
• is massively exploited by the fashion and corporate worlds every year,
• instantly recognizable to all.

Like the cosmic universe,
Christmas, and the ugly Christmas sweater function as a common genre:

👉 we can't privatize "the ugly red Christmas sweater with a reindeer and pompom" in general.

What the sweater model really protects

What the deposit really protects is not :

"a red sweater with a reindeer head and a pompom".

It's the precise combination:

• this reindeer,
• with this embossed red pompom nose,
• with this striped scarf,
• with this layout on the front panel,
• with this particular graphic style.

👉 As with the Marant jacket:
protection targets the signature, not the Christmas universe.

How a competitor can avoid counterfeiting

A competitor can stay in the Christmas mood while avoiding copying, if he :

• change the character (penguin, Santa, bear...),
• replace the pompom with a flat pattern or a different color,
• changes the palette or stripes of the scarf,
• reorganizes the patterns on the sweater,
• adopts a different drawing style.
• adds motifs absent from the model from which it takes its inspiration

Same universe (Christmas), but different overall impression → like H&M in the Marant case.

Strategic issues for rights holders

Text:
For brands registering "trendy" designs:

1. Don't overestimate the scope of the model:
   law does not lock up an entire universe (Christmas, the cosmos...).
2. Work on differentiation in the details:
   is where distinctive character comes into play.
3. Anticipate proof of counterfeiting:
   you'll need to show that your specific combination has been used, not just that it's been copied

a "family resemblance" or the repetition of specific isolated details.

4. document your own creative process (research, sketches, etc.).

Summary

Text:
What we learn from
Isabel Marant and the ugly Christmas sweater:

• IP law protects specific forms,
• not trends or universes (cosmic, Christmas, etc.),
• in these saturated worlds, protection does exist,
  but it's narrower than you might think.

👉 The key is to identify where
your real signatureis... and how to usefully protect it.

You work on "trendy" collections
(Christmas, capsules, collabs, licenses...).

and you ask yourself:

• what can really be protected,
• how far your monopoly goes,
• how to avoid conflict or fight?

At Legimark, this is our business, so let's talk about it.