I have recently read an interesting matter about German Fashion Designer Phillipp Plein posting a picture on Instagram of his sneakers on his personal Ferrari. It seems Ferrari has sent a letter demanding that he remove those pictures and submitting that his behavior “tarnishes the reputation of Ferrari’s brands and causes Ferrari further material damage”. Ferrari’s qualm is that Plein is using their brand to increase awareness of his brand and products.
This is not the first time another brand has been used in a “promotion or ad”.
In SA in 2007, Verimark used a BMW car in one of their adverts. Similar to what Ferrari seems to be threatening, BMW sued Verimark for using its trade mark without authorization. Our courts in that matter found that in order for Verimark to show the capabilities of its product, it had to use a car and that it’s use of the BMW brand was not trade mark use and not trade mark infringement.
Many people make the mistake of using other brands without being aware of the implications… Could you be one of the people using a protected brand without authorization? Are you aware of the implications of your actions? More pressingly, with the above Verimark case in mind, do you think Ferrari could be successful with its claim against Plein?
Seems we will have to wait to see how the matter progresses….
The Legal Fashionista 