Two Crocodiles Going After It (Again)

I think it’s fair to say that Lacoste, a French retail company, is a very well-known brand here in Canada. I remember walking by stores selling Lacoste products in malls growing up.

This brand may be less familiar to some of you. I remember first coming across a Crocodile Garments store in Seoul, South Korea four years ago, being caught off guard due its logo resembling that of Lacoste. Crocodile Garments is a prominent clothing store founded in Hong Kong.

As you might imagine, the each company has taken the other to courts (all over the world!) over trademark claims. Some of the disputes were in common law jurisdictions, employing similar legal principles employed here in Canada. I wanted to share the latest iteration of dispute between the two countries. In this case, Lacoste saw its trademark on its logo revoked in New Zealand due to the “use it or lose it” principle after Crocodile Garment took the French company all the way to the New Zealand Supreme Court.

I couldn’t help but think of the Institut National v Andres Wines case we covered in the passing off lectures, which was part of the Champagne winemakers’ global effort to protect their brand!

The following is a link to a report on this trademark dispute: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/lacoste-loses-supreme-court-trademark-fight/HCDZLOAQPHEBXVGQ4B422SN7TQ/

The following is a link to the judgment by the New Zealand Supreme Court: https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/cases/2017/sccil.pdf