Seafolly bikinis are the celebrity must-have; I never leave home without mine.
But where there’s a must-have, you’ll find a lawyer, a writ and a big invoice.
New South Wales-based swimwear business Seafolly hired one such lawyer to give a rival swimsuit retailer a dressing down. They said that City Beach copied three floral print designs from their summer catalogue, and they even claimed City Beach staff called the designs ‘Seafolly knock offs’ around the office.
City Beach said they just used Seafolly designs for ‘inspiration’.
The judge backed Seafolly. He said that City Beach’s action was bare-faced cheek, awarded damages over $250,000AD to Seafolly and slapped and banned City Beach from manufacturing, selling and promoting Seafolly’s swimwear and fabric designs again.
So I think we can safely say that from CB’s point of view, things aren’t going swimmingly.
Cleland Thom is a legal advisor to TNT and other media. He also runs lifestyle journalism courses. Contact him at cleland@clelandthom.com
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