Italian luxury menswear brand Ermenegildo Zegna recently won the counterfeit case against a Chinese business, which were retailing the brand’s apparel and accessories under the name ‘Yves Zegnoa’.
In a press statement, the brand cited that the Supreme People’s Court, the highest authority in the country’s judiciary system, has declared a historic judgement when it ruled to defend the intellectual property rights of a non-Chinese company.
Notably, the judgement marked out that replicating the Italian brand’s logo, that has a strong customer base and presence in China, where the brand has been doing business for around 30 years, shows a violation of its intellectual property rights. “The verdict stands in complete contrast to the rulings made by previous jurisdictions, which had at most acknowledged a passing similarity between the two brands.” the verdict read.
Gildo Zegna, CEO, Ermenegildo Zegna said that this decision is particularly important, not only because it protects our intellectual property rights in this country, but also because it assures the positive transformation being made in Chinese jurisprudence regarding protection of competition.
The CEO further stated that this initiative is a step towards making China a fair and impartial market, regulated in the interests of all national and international companies operating in the nation.
It is important to mark out that China is one of the major markets for the Italy-based fast-fashion retailer. The company recently re-shuffled its retail network in the country by curbing the store count from 90 outlets to 80.
