Balenciaga, already in the midst of a lawsuit for allegedly copying a souvenir-inspired bag (in which creative director Demna Gvaslia was blasted for his “willingness to copy the work of others”), has been hit with yet another lawsuit. This time the Paris-based brand is on the hook for allegedly copying the world-famous CAR-FRESHNER tree design for a $275 keychain. 

Whether it be streetwear brands’ penchant for carefully limiting supply to drive demand (and a thoroughly thriving secondary market), millennial-focused brands’ push for community and collaboration, or luxury brands’ practice of walking a line between exclusivity (as driven largely by brand storytelling) and corporatized profitability (the latter of which has been pioneered by the likes of LVMH and Kering, which both maintain brands that would be considered more mass than traditional luxury in nature), it is clear that strategy – and an arsenal of valuable intellectual property rights – is what sells products.  

Gigi Hadid revealed on Instagram on Thursday that she is being “legally pursued” – presumably on copyright grounds – for posting a paparazzi photo of herself on Instagram. The reported legal action comes after the supermodel and her agency IMG Models were sued last fall for copyright infringement over an Instagram post, and also follows from a similar lawsuit, in which Khloe Kardashian was slapped with a copyright infringement lawsuit after she posted a paparazzi photo of herself on Instagram without licensing the image.  

“The lion's share of Amazon's revenue come from products sales, and it is constantly under pressure, and searching, to increase the number of sellers on its platform,” eBay alleges in the new lawsuit that it filed against its fellow online marketplace. That pressure for growth has spawned a plan for Amazon to lure “high value” sellers away from the eBay platform and onto Amazon, a plan that eBay alleges was not only “clandestine” in nature and sizable in scope, but also highly “illegal.”

Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. was the one that stepped in after Deciem founder Brandon Truaxe  announced – in a bizarre social media post last week – that the brand would shutter immediately. The New York-based beauty giant initiated (and landed a preliminary win in) proceedings with the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario, seeking to immediately oust Truaxe from the company’s board and from his role as chief executive officer, and to bar him from issuing any further statements or circulating media on any of Deciem's social media accounts.  

On the 17th of every month, Burberry wants consumers to get in line. In order to build hype and thereby, boost its revenues, the British heritage brand, under the control of creative director Riccardo Tisci and CEO Marco Gobbetti, is courting younger customers, ideally the same ones that have driven Gucci out of its pre-Alessandro Michele doldrums and made it one of the industry’s fastest-growing and most revenue-happy brands.

Following reports of a budding legal war, Rihanna, Fenty Corp., and Puma have been hit with a new lawsuit … over the letters “FU.” Clothing company Freedom United alleges that Rihanna and co. are knowingly running afoul of federal trademark law and engaging in unfair competition in connection with Fenty Puma garments and accessories adorned with the letters “F.U.”, which are confusingly similar to the “FU” emblazoned wares that Freedom United has been selling for over 10 years.

“We write fake reviews on Sephora.” That is what a former Sunday Riley employee revealed about the buzzy skincare company. According to an internal email from the company to a number of employees, Sunday Riley has been in the business of enlisting those within its ranks to post “at least 3” positive reviews about its products – under the guise of an unaffiliated consumer, as opposed to a Sunday Riley employee – in order to entice consumers to purchase its various skincare goods.

While most fashion brands are busy filing lawsuits against long lists of China-based online counterfeit sellers, Michael Kors is taking its fight against fakes to the streets of New York. Michael Kors filed suit last week in a New York federal court, alleging that “certain areas of New York City have long been major distribution hubs for counterfeit goods that are sold throughout the United States,” and that its brand, in particular, “has been plagued by the sale and distribution of counterfeit goods at locations all over New York City for years.”

When the Bratz Dolls were released in 2011, MGA Entertainment – the (then) small Southern California-based company that had poached a former Mattel designer (according to a string of ugly lawsuits) and created a line of sassy, fashion-forward Barbie alternatives – did not know for sure if it could successfully rival the long-standing American staple that is Barbie. Yet, that is exactly what MGA did; it became the first company in 40 years to steal a sizable amount of market share from multi-national toy giant Mattel and its world-famous doll. Fast forward to December 2016 and MGA was on the brink of doing it again.