*The branding for Jaden Smith’s shoe collaboration with New Balance has been called out for allegations of trademark infringement from the Authentic Brand Group LLC (ABG).
According to The Fashion Law, ABG has filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, claiming New Balance is misleading consumers to believe Smith’s Vision Racer shoe is connected with ABG’s Vision Streetwear brand.
ABG noted that its Vision trademarks have been used on various Vision Streetwear products since 1986.
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Here’s more from trademarkroom.com:
Furthermore, the ABG brand also insist that on top of trade mark infringement allegations, the sale of the product in question can also be considered as a higher standard of counterfeiting by intentionally using the marks that are “substantially indistinguishable” from Vision Streetwear’s trade mark.
And HighSnobiety reports:
The New York brand management company claims that while it “never licensed or authorized [New Balance] to use the VISION trademarks in any manner,” the footwear company has “manufactured, advertised, marketed, distributed, offered for sale, and sold … footwear products bearing identical and confusingly similar imitations of the VISION trademarks.”
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ABG is seeking $2 million from New Balance for engaging in trademark infringement and counterfeiting.
Meanwhile, ABG has reportedly not yet taken legal action related to the trademark of Kanye West’s recent Presidential merch. According to HighSnobiety, the rapper’s “Kanye 2020 Vision” slogan plays on the Vision Street Wear logo.
West’s merch featured glaring similarities with the Vision Street Wear branding.
