Gucci’s €55m trademark claim against Guess dismissed in France

The Paris High Court has dismissed Gucci’s claim that US clothing brand Guess infringed three of its Community trademarks (CTMs) in France, and has revoked the registrations.

Yesterday (February 2) the court dismissed a lawsuit in which the luxury brand accused Guess of infringing the CTMs, all for the letter ‘G’, covering wallets and belts.

Gucci sought €55 million ($62.4 million) in damages for the alleged infringement, but the French court ruled instead that the brand should pay Guess €30,000 in compensation for legal costs.

The court also declared the three ‘G’ CTMs invalid.

Paul Marciano, chief executive of Guess, said: “For six years now, Gucci has filed case after case against Guess and lost time after time. On top of that, Gucci has lost some trademarks in the Italian case and now some in France as well.

“I continue to believe strongly that all these legal battles are a complete waste of time and this energy and money should be focused on business. Obviously, François-Henri Pinault [chief executive of Kering, Gucci’s parent company] doesn’t see it that way,” he added.

Gucci and Guess have been involved in trademark clashes in the US and Europe, with mixed results.

In 2012, Gucci successfully sued Guess at the US District Court for the Southern District Court of New York for trademark infringement. But Gucci was awarded $4.6 million in damages, a much smaller amount than the $221 million it had originally claimed.

Last year, Guess was successful at the Milan Court of First Instance, which ruled that it had not infringed several of Gucci’s trademarks.