Coach is going after mass retailer Target for making an "inspired by" bag to sell in their stores. I am firmly anti-knockoff. I'll save that rant for another day, but the people that sell and buy designer knockoff items are up there with dogfighters, the people that club baby seals, and people that scam elderly people over the phone.
But in this case, I think Coach needs to suck it and shut it:
NEW YORK - Coach Inc . is suing low-price retailer Target Corp. over bags the luxury handbag maker says too closely resemble its own designs.
Coach wants Target to stop selling the bags and pay an undetermined amount in damages, injunctive relief and attorney fees, the New York-based company said in a complaint it filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
The bags in question resemble Coach's Ergo bags, launched in 2008 and marketed as ergonomically correct, and its Signature Patchwork bags, which have patches in different fabrics and also were introduced in 2008, Coach said.
Target began selling handbags this summer with "exact and/or confusingly similar reproductions of Coach's Ergo designs and Signature Patchwork designs," Coach claims.
Coach also sued Target in 2006 claiming the retailer was selling a copy of one of its handbags. The companies settled the case.
Minneapolis-based Target did not have an immediate comment on the lawsuit.
Coach shares rose 91 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $31.99 during midday trading Monday. Target shares rose 72 cents to $46.74.
In my opinion, that's a pretty ballsy move for Coach. They are suing for the rights to a design that they re-interpreted themselves... For your consideration:
The first bag is the "original" design by Foley + Corinna, named the City Tote. This bag has been in production since I've been in college... so, at least five to six years on the market. It's been sold in retailers like Saks and Shopbop.
The second bag is the Target "knock off" that Coach is suing to have pulled from the shelves for copyright infringement. The third bag is Coach's version, which came out in 2008. Years after Foley + Corinna have had their city totes on the market.
All three have an outside pocket, option for handheld, a removable shoulder strap and can be worn with the bag folded in half. The Target bag are not knock-offs because they don't pretend to be Coach. There is no Coach logo on the bag... no horse and carriage. No giant Cs.
Which begs the question... if Coach can sue over this bag, can Chanel sue Coach for their very Chanel inspired cardigan?
Just like Coach is arguing that the Target product is meant to deceive Coach customers and devalue the brand, Chanel could very well argue the same: If someone shopping at Target can think that they are getting a Coach bag (which does not say Coach on any label) for $40, surely these same stupid people might think that they are buying a $3k Chanel sweater inside a Coach store for $300.
Chanel inspired cardigans and bags with leather intertwined chain straps and interlocking Cs?! Coach, you should be shaking in your little monogramed rain boots... You don't want to piss Kaiser Karl off!
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