Knight Errant
British luxury goods company Burberry may be working to change its checks, or at least downplay them, but its revived knight logo may be just as tempting to counterfeiters.
The Times (of London, not New York) reports that Burberry just accepted a $100,000 settlement from Marco Leather (of New York, not London), which had been selling counterfeits bearing both logos. Rather boldly, Marco Leather had also filed a U.S. trademark application for a slightly modified version of the knight and had registered a U.S. copyright for an image of the knight superimposed over the check. (Who exactly was giving the IP advice here?) Under an order from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Marco Leather must abandon the trademark application, transfer the copyright to Burberry, and refrain from any similar activities.
Checkmate, Burberry.
