Urban Outfitters has been reselling Harley-Davidson-branded merchandise under its Urban Renewal label. The motorcycle company says the items, made without its permission, represent “flagrant violations” of “standards for products branded with the Harley-Davidson marks.”
Harley-Davidson says Urban Outfitters has "mutilated" its marks.
H-D USA LLC vs. Urban Outfitters
Urban Outfitters, the retailer that's frequently accused of stealing other people's designs, has a new foe: Harley-Davidson.
Harley-Davidson filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin District Court on Tuesday saying that Urban Outfitters violated its trademarks by reselling Harley merchandise under the "Urban Renewal" label without the famous motorcycle maker's permission. While Harley raised the issue with Urban Outfitters in a March 12 email, warning the chain of legal action, Urban's counsel responded on March 14 saying, "I would not expect a reply before next week, at the earliest," and had yet to reply as of March 18, according to the lawsuit.
The items in dispute "are genuine Harley-Davidson apparel products that have been 'reconstructed' and materially altered in various ways, including by cutting through or mutilating Harley-Davidson's marks, cutting off the sleeves, shredding the bottom of the shirts, cutting open the side seams of the shirts, cutting the necklines, and removing Harley-Davidson hangtags, neck tags, and/or labels and replacing them with defendant's own branding in the form of its URBAN RENEWAL labels," the motorcycle company said in the lawsuit, which was spotted by Law360 yesterday.
Harley added: "The unauthorized products are flagrant violations of Harley-Davidson's standards for products branded with the Harley-Davidson marks."
Harley-Davidson, founded in Milwaukee in 1903, boasts a cultlike following for its famous motorcycles, as well as jackets and other clothing bearing its bar-and-shield logo. The company's "fanatical brand loyalty" is so storied that it's been the subject of a Harvard Business School case study. Urban Outfitters' sales of the items created the false impression that the retailer is somehow affiliated with Harley, the company said in the lawsuit.
H-D USA LLC vs. Urban Outfitters
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