Levi’s Gets Its Trousers In Twist Over Fabric Tabs

A Parisian fashion brand is the latest outfit to find itself in the sights of US denim doyen, Levi’s.

Coperni, a brand that launched in 2013, has been named in a lawsuit by Levi’s for its use of little fabric tabs and a stitching pattern on its jeans that the American company argues are infringing its trademarks. In a filing with a Californian court, Levi’s also points out that Coperni is selling authentic Levi’s products that it has “reworked”.

The Fashion Law website reports that the American brand believes this could potentially cause “consumer confusion as to the source/nature of the denim at issue”. The American fashion brand also argues in its filing that that Coperni is “depriving [Levi’s] 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.”

Levi’s has been using its trademark tab on its jeans since 1936, the filing adds, and has the trademarks in place to protect it. The American company is not shy in defending its trademarks. Fellow San Francisco-based brand, Hammies, was hit with an infringement case last year, again over the tab design. An Australian entrepreneur was also sued in the same year. Levi’s argued that products produced for David Connolly’s Green Tab and truckerjacket.com brands infringed the tab trademark too. Huge names including Yves Saint Laurent and Kenzo have also faced the ire of Levi’s lawyers in the past.