Conde Nast fails to stop company from using Vogue name
United Toiletries & Cosmetics from using the Vogue name,
demonstrating that multi-national companies don't always get their
own way.
Conde Nast argued that United Toiletries was trading in a misleading and deceptive manner by selling perfume under the Vogue name, as the public would automatically associate the name with the magazine. The American publishing house failed in its bid to gain exclusive rights to use the Vogue name on soaps, perfumes and cosmetics. The hearing officer concluded that, "the opponent has shown that at the relevant date it enjoyed goodwill and reputation in its mark 'VOGUE' in relation to perfumes" and so ruled in United Toiletries favour. United Toiletries & Cosmetics has been selling and supplying perfume under the Vogue name in the UK since the 1984s. It has subsequently sold 2,000 units per year in the UK, and 100,000 per year internationally, according to the Press Gazette. Conde Nast was ordered to pay United Toiletries a total of £2,600 towards its costs of opposing the application. Several cases involving brand infringement have come to court recently, particularly in the US, where companies fight evern harder to protect their brand names. Last year Proctor & Gamble accused Perrigo New York of closely imitating its core Olay brand, claiming 'intellectual property infringement by numerous Clay-Park products which mimic Procter & Gamble's Olay skin care lines.' Similar recent activity includes legal action against McLane in the US over a copy of its NyQuil medicine brand and Vi-Jon Industries over a mouthwash that was said to imitate its Crest Pro-Health mouthwash brand.
