Diego Della Valle accused of copying more than just Car Shoes

HighProfile ShowdownTribevs Tod's

SmallluxuryhandbagbrandTribeofTwo,featuredon"Animal Kingdom"and"Scandal,"issuingfashionhouseTod'soveralogo itallegesis"Confusinglysimilar"toitsown.

ThelogoconsistsoftwointerlockingT's,thefirst rightsideupandthesecondupsidedown,forthe name"TribeofTwo"thattogetheralsoresemblea Romannumeral"II."Tod'sdebutedasimilarlogoin September2015attheirfashionshowinMilanand begansellingDouble-Titems-including

InterestingtonoteisthefactthatTod'sdoesnothave2T'sintheirnameandin factwasoriginallycalledJPTod's,anamethatisoftenreportedashaving beenchosenrandomlyfromaBostonphonebook.

InternationalpressfromtheS/S2016 Fashionshowhadravereviewsof Tod's"NewTTlogo"despitebeingno morethanafewhardwarebuckles appliedtosomebagsandshoes.

Withinmonthsafterthepositivepress,thedoubleTlogowasfeaturedheavilyinsocialmedia carriedbymultiplemoviestarsandmodelswhohadallbeengiftedbagsbyTod's,which resultedinbillionsofsocialmediaviewsandfurtherengrainedtheinthepubliceyethelogo belongingtoTod's

Accordingtothecomplaint,Tribe ofTwo'ssalesbegantodecline asthesalesandmarketing effortsofTod'sincreased.

ThoughTribeofTwomakesnoexplicitallegations,thelawsuitsuggestsaconnection betweenanemailcontainingtheTribeofTwologo,whichitsenttothefashionblogger ChiaraFerragniinJuly2015andTod'sadoptionofitscurrentdouble-Tlogo.

In2017,Tod'scollaboratedwithFerragni fora#ChiaralovesTod'scollection featuringtheTod'sdoubleTfora #ChiaralovesTod'scollectionwhere Ferragni"Reimagined"thedoubleT moccasins.

Theoldlogofeaturedcurvedlinesandtheword"Tod's" writteninthetopsectionofthefirstT.

Tod'scategorizedthesedifferencesas "Minorstylisticvariations"andsaidthenew andoldlogosare"Legallyequivalent."

However,since2002Tod'scompanyhas filedforover80trademarkswiththe USPTO,noneofwhichcontainedadouble

Allegationsoffashionplagiarismarenothingnew,andthisDavidv/Goliathstoryisreminiscentof 2018whentheIndianfashioncollectivePeopleTree,startedbyOrijitSen&GurpreetSidhu,created toempowerartists,freethinkers,andmarginalizedwomenandchildrenofIndia,hadtheir

Tod'sSpAcurrentlyhasover$1 billionUSDinsalesannually,a longwayfromthedaysof replicatingCarShoes.

ThecaseisTribeofTwo,LLCv.Tods,S.p.A.,Ltd.,1:23-cv-03255(SDNY).