Any Costco member knows that the store offers more than a $1.50 hotdog and soda special and rotisserie chickens. They also offer quality products that seem very similar to namebrand goods sold at a much higher markup. Who hasn’t heard the rumor that Costco’s Kirkland vodka is comparable to (if not better than) Grey Goose or that Kirkland golf balls can compete with Pro V1s. While some of these product comparisons send members running to Costco, they also run the risk of Costco being taken to court. Lululemon, known for athleisure wear and deliberately being named in a way that makes it difficult for Japanese speakers to pronounce, is taking Costco to court for allegedly ripping off their IP.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. is accusing Costco Wholesale Corp. of copying its apparel designs in a lawsuit — and the upscale sportswear company shared images with the court to back up its case…Lululemon is arguing that the products sold at Costco entirely replicate the design of their apparel, highlighting silhouettes, seamlines and accents trademarked by Lululemon in the visual comparisons provided to the court.
Here’s a product side by side for example:
Do Costco pants have some special anti-wrinkle technology going on in the fabric or is Lululemon just terrible at picking comparison pictures? Whatever Lulu representative went to their nearest Costco to photograph the competition should have bought a three pack of irons to get the creases out of the pants on the left.
While we’re on the topic of comparison and marketing, this lawsuit runs the risk of adding cash to the Costco coffers:
Costco has yet to respond, but they generally aren’t ones to back down. While I doubt they’ll go full Steve Madden…
Costco will probably put up a good fight.
Don’t get me wrong — it is generally a good idea to defend your IP. But if you lose the suit and it gets out that your competitor is selling a superior product at a much lower price, you may have been better off resting on your prestige than rooting out copycats. Because let’s be real — if your customer base is already caught up in the hype of Lululemon and its product peers in the premium athleisure lifestyle, they aren’t dismounting their Peleton to go shop at Costco. But they may jump ship if your company losing big in court starts to make headlines.
Lululemon Gets Aggressive About Lookalikes With Costco Lawsuit [Insurance Journal]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
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