There are so many things that you prepare yourself for when launching your fashion business<\/a>, but no matter how ready you think you are, receiving a letter from a large well-known brand that could harm your business, and threatening an intellectual property battle, would shock anyone. So what happens when a fashion start-up is told that the unique name created for their brand, is an infringement<\/a> on a big brand’s trademark<\/a>? It happened to Michaela Anderson last year, and she shared her journey with us to inform others.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I love going on holidays, whether it\u2019s a girls’ holiday to Cancun or a family holiday to Greece. I also enjoy pre-holiday shopping and getting my beauty treatments. This is where the idea for Chaela Rose came about, I wanted to launch a beachwear brand that spoke to the confident, stylish and glamorous woman.<\/p>\n Chaela Rose is my first business, which means that I am learning something new everything day. I didn’t go to university to study business, but I have used Google, seminars and websites such as Fashion Insiders <\/a>to further my knowledge of the fashion business. The number one way I\u2019m learning is just going through it: enjoying the process, making mistakes, learning from them and celebrating the successes.<\/p>\n One of the biggest things I have learnt so far is to pay attention to the legal side of business! This is something I came across after attending a WAHNails<\/a> Power Lunch where they discussed the law and trademarks. I figured I needed to start legally securing Chaela Rose as mine. I bought the .com and .co.uk for Chaela Rose, then registered the social media domains on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter so it would be available when I wanted to launch the brand.<\/p>\n After researching trademarks and the different classes that I would need, in order to own Chaela Rose, I thought it would be best to have a phone conversation with the IP team at ipo.gov.uk<\/a>. They answered my questions, and I then filed an application to register Chaela Rose in \u2018Class 25\u2019<\/a>, which covers clothing, beachwear, bikinis, flip flops, and more.<\/p>\n The application cost \u00a3200 and I was reassured that it was a simple process with a low percentage of people getting theirs rejected. I checked that there were no trademarks similar to mine – there were none – so I filed the application in May 2014, and started the three to four-month wait for my registration certificate. Then I would know that I owned the name.<\/p>\n One month into the process, I received a letter from an international fashion retailer, who told me that I was infringing their trademark and that it would lead to a court action if I did not withdraw my trademark, and agree not to use my name. The letter startled me: this huge brand seemed to be prepared to take me to court because my name was, in their opinion, too similar to theirs. My first thought was “But I am a start-up!” After speaking with my mentor, I decided to seek legal advice.<\/p>\nTaking precautions<\/h3>\n
The letter<\/h3>\n