This week saw the end of a three-year-long Federal lawsuit in which luxury goods manufacturer Gucci America, Inc. (“Gucci”) had been suing its slightly-less-tony (yet well-respected) competitor Guess?, Inc. (“Guess”) for numerous causes of action, including several for trademark infringement.  While Gucci was nominally victorious, obtaining an injunction and over $4.5 million in damages, the victory seemed small in light of over $100.0 million in damages that Gucci had sought.

Below is a picture showing (at left) a Gucci sneaker compared with the accused Guess? sneaker (at right).

Gucci (left) Guess (right)

The suit ultimately produced a comprehensive opinion of over one hundred pages in Continue reading →