Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Derek Andrew, Inc. v. Poof Apparel Corp. (9th Cir. - June 11, 2008)

Plaintiff is an apparel company named Derek Andrew, Inc. that sells a high-end (read: expensive) clothing line called "Twisted Heart" at Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus. Defendant, by contrast, is a competing apparel company named (of all things) "Poof Apparel" that sells low-end (read: cheap) clothing with a label nearly identical to the "Twisted Heart" label at places like T.J. Maxx and Marshall's.

That's about all you need to know to explain why plaintiff sues defendant and successfully obtains a Lanham Act award of almost $700,000 -- plus an additional $300,000 or so in attorney's fees.

In short, Poof Apparel goes poof.