Gucci may not be getting even close to the full $120 million it was seeking in its trademark infringement suit against Guess Inc., but it is walking away the victor.
Yesterday, a U.S. district court judge awarded Gucci only $4.66 million, saying while Guess did indeed infringe on some of Gucci’s marks, Gucci was not entitled to damages for lost sales or harm to its brand. Judge Shira Sheindlin went on to say that Gucci’s expert analysis was “highly speculative.”
The Italian apparel designer, more formally known as The House of Gucci, sued Guess claiming the American clothing company “Gucci-ized” many of its products by mimicking Gucci’s trademarked designs on wallets, belts, shoes and other items.
In the suit it filed in 2009, Gucci said that Guess infringed on six of its designs. In February, Judge Scheindlin had allowed Gucci to pursue claims regarding four of those trademark infringement claims: its green-red-green stripes, a script logo, a stylized "Square G" and a group of four interlocking "G"s known as a "Quattro G."
Paul Marciano, CEO of Guess, released a statement saying the judgment showed Gucci had "overreached" and "misled the court with a number of facts that were unsupported by the evidence." He added, "Overall, we are extremely satisfied and vindicated that this case should have never been filed.”
