Recently, Chanel and Hermès secretly launched a "trademark war", all because of the name of a cosmetic. "Chanel Journey" is a limited edition four-color cheek palette launched by Chanel. One box contains pink, coral, brown and champagne powders inspired by Paris, London, New York and Tokyo.
According to fashion media TheFashionLaw, Hermès believes that Voyage DeChanel’s name is too similar to its Voyaged’Hermès trademark, and requested the US Trademark Office to interrupt Chanel’s pending trademark approval. Currently, Hermès owns perfume, body lotion and other products under the Voyaged’Hermès ocean trademark.
It is reported that Chanel submitted a trademark registration application for "VoyageDeChanel" in October 2018, intending to develop new beauty products under this name. In March this year, Chanel officially launched the VoyageDeChanel four-color cheek palette, priced at US$70 per box.
A month later, Hermès filed an objection with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, pointing out that it had registered the Voyaged’Hermès trademark in 2010 and had used it for nearly ten years.
Hermès believes that the pronunciation of the first half of the two names "Voyage De Chanel" and "Voyaged 'Hermès" is exactly the same, and in fact they have exactly the same meaning. The phrase "VoyageDe/D" is followed by the names of French luxury brands, namely Chanel and Hermès.
In addition, Hermès claims that the trademark applied by Chanel is very similar to its existing trademark in image, pronunciation and function, and will create an overall similar commercial impression.
Because of this, Hermès claims that its trademark will be damaged by the similar trademark registered by Chanel, and believes that Voyage De Chanel products are likely to confuse or even deceive consumers, making consumers believe that Chanel's products are Sponsored, authorized or approved by Hermès, or Chanel is believed to be associated with Hermès in some way.
In June of this year, Chanel's lawyers denied several accusations by Hermès, including "the 'VoyageDe' trademarks of the two brands are highly similar" and "the two series have the same target consumers", saying The US Trademark Office should ignore Hermès’s objections and let the VoyageDeChanel trademark registration process proceed.
The reason why Hermès expressed dissatisfaction with Chanel’s new cosmetics trademark may also be because Hermès itself plans to enter the field of cosmetics.
In March this year, Hermès officially revealed to the media that it would officially launch Hermès cosmetics products in 2020. In June, Hermès Group CEO Axel Dumas said that the beauty product line will be a long-term plan of the group. "All large fashion groups have three axes (makeup, perfume and individual accounts), so it is natural for us to launch makeup." Dumas said that he hopes to become a global company in the beauty field, which is also to balance the growth of the group's various product categories.
For luxury goods groups, the profit margin of cosmetics is very considerable. Compared with the luxury goods market, the development of the cosmetics and skin care market has been more stable in recent years.
Although the Hermès Group has not revealed much information about the beauty cosmetics line, Hermès may consider using the Voyaged’Hermès trademark to expand the beauty line. After all, this fragrance product is already well-known among consumers.
If Herms wants to use the name “Voyaged’Hermès” in some cosmetics, it is not difficult to understand why it does not want Chanel to occupy a leading position in the cosmetics market with the name “Voyage De Chanel”. For more trademark information, welcome to visit Bajie Intellectual Property Trademark Website!