Donatella Versace in Versace at the Met Gala 2010.

Photo: Sherly Rabbani and Josephine Solimene

Great news for trademark owners! Versace has won $20 million in compensation after winning a counterfeit case against more than 70 stores in Arizona and Southern California.

This reward of $20 million is certainly a break-through in trademark world, since it's one of the highest ever obtained by an Italian company in a trademark case as reported by Reuters.

I am very pleased to see that Versace has managed to be so succesful in their fight against fakes! In my daily work as a trademark attorney I often hear the complaint from my clients that IP protection is so expensive. However, they often underestimate the importance of IP protection, which includes the protection of trademarks (often referred to as brands). Protecting your trademark is basically protecting a company's or a product's reputation, and therefore should not be neglected!

In order to succesfully fight against counterfeits, it's of the utmost importance that trademarks are protected and registered!

Versace has many trademark registrations, all registered in the name of Gianni Versace S.P.A., among which word mark registrations for VERSACE, GIANNI VERSACE, GV and of course their famous Medusa design.



The famous Versace "Medusa" design which is a registered trademark.