In the years to come, the clash between Supreme and the legal fake brand Supreme Italia will be remembered as the longest and most complicated fashion beef in the history of fashion. The legal war over trademarks ended in favor of the American brand by making the jurisprudence of copyright cases globally. Last June 28th, came the first sentence out of the dispute over the brand that sentenced Supreme Italia founder Michele Di Pierro and his son Marcello to 8 and 3 years in prison respectively, as well as paying 7.5 million pounds, which corresponds to just over 8.7 million euros.
The judgment was delivered by a British judge Martin Beddoe in London on the basis that the company International Firm ltd which controlled Supreme Italia, Supreme Spain and all other satellite brands has its registered office in London. The trial papers emerged shortly after the London-based company only had £300 in its accounts.
At the moment, Supreme has not commented on the outcome of the process, which nevertheless represents a decisive victory in the fight against the brand’s European legal fakes. Supreme’s battle against legal fake began in 2017 moving from Italy to Spain and finally to China, where the Samsung case broke out, when the tech brand announced and then withdrew the partnership with Supreme Italia. Last December 3rd, the registration of the trademark of the Box Logo was made official in the European Union but only last week’s ruling seems to have clarified the matter once and for all. According to the account that jonathan browning of the trial makes of Bloomberg:
“From the start of the London trial, Supreme’s lawyers sought to differentiate the Di Pierro operation from the sale of fake goods in street markets. By temporarily registering trademarks and opening shops, Di Pierro operated a substantial commercial operation, Jonathan Laidlaw, a lawyer acting for the company told the jury.”
