Luxury Brand, Christian Dior has brought a trademark infringement lawsuit against a local restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas for using the “Dior” brand name. Christian Dior Couture owns trademark registrations for the famous mark DIOR in the United States and in jurisdictions around the world.
The complaint, filed Monday in the US District Court for the District of Kansas, alleges that Dior Restaurant LLC is also advertising “Dior Bag Giveaways” for counterfeit bags.
As a result, on or about March 29, 2022, counsel for Christian Dior Couture sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding them to promptly change the business name, signage, menus, and destory all items with the DIOR mark. Dior Restaurants, LLC failed to comply.Christina Dior Couture is now requesting the court to:
- Order Dior Restaurants, LLC to transfer ownership to Christian Dior Couture of any domain name that consists of or includes the mark DIOR.
- Award Christian Dior Couture statutory damages of $2,000,000 per counterfeit mark.
- Award Christian Dior Couture three times Defendant’s profits or three times Christian Dior Couture’s damages.
- Award Christian Dior Couture statutory damages of $100,000 for each domain name that is identical or confusingly similar to or dilutive of the famous mark DIOR
- Pay Christian Dior's Reasonable Attorney's Fees.
Takeaway:
1. Conduct a Trademark Clearance Search as early as possible, perferably before launching your business and certainly before substantial investments have been made. An experienced Trademark Attorney can advise you on the level of risk associated with the use and registration of your brand name. This lawsuit could have easily been avoided for minimal cost.
2. Luxury Brands spend over $100 Million dollars a year on marketing and advertsing and pay a large sum of money to hire the best attorneys to monitor their brand. As a Trademark Owner they must ensure they control use of their mark and specifically control the quality of their goods and services. Long-term failure to police and protect their Tradmark could significantly devalue their brand and even cost them their federal trademark protection all together.
The case is: Christian Dior Couture SA v. Dior Restaurant, LLC (2:22-cv-02182-JWL-ADM) District Judge Lungstrum