Helly Hansen vs OFF-White

A major scandal is breaking out around the new creative director of Louis Vuitton, Virgil Abloh.A copyright infringement lawsuit has been filed in an Illinois court. The plaintiff is the Norwegian sportswear brand Helly Hansen, whose representatives claim that the brand OFF-White (Italian streetwear is a premium clothing brand founded by American designer Virgil Abloh in Italy in 2012) borrowed the striped logo that they started using more than 40 years ago to sell their products in the USA.

Helly Hansen declares that the logo OFF-White is confusingly similar and the company uses it to sell the same or similar goods and services provided by Helly Hansen.Kromet oho, according toHelly Hansen, OFF-White maliciously uses the similarity of logos to create a false impression in the eyes of the consumer about belonging to a well-known brand (HH) and its reputation. The plaintiff demands to revoke the federal trademark registration and prohibit the use of the disputed logo.

Officially, the OFF-White brand has been in existence since 2013 and from the very beginning puts a "striped seal" on all its products. It is unknown what made Helly Hansen wait more than 5 years to challenge its use. And we can only keep an eye on whether this will in any way affect the dizzying hype around Mr. Abloh's new collection.

Photo: Helly Hansen, OFF-White