Jimmy Choo fights Central Saint Martins student for trademark rights

Jimmy Choo has filed a request to invalidate the trademark of
Central Saint Martins menswear design student Jerry Chu out of concern
of confusion within the market. Chu, a 19-year old student from
Guangdong Province China, applied to register his name in Beijing to
leave an option open in case he chose to start his own clothing line
after finishing his degree. However, Business of Fashion reports that
Chu still has two more years left in school and hasn’t put serious
thought into his plans for after graduation.

But still, footwear designer Jimmy Choo doesn’t want to take his
chances. In the past, his brand has invalidated potential trademarks
for Jenny Choo and Ray Choo.

“Jimmy Choo may well have assumed that the Jerry Chu registration
was just another attempt to trade on the established Jimmy Choo name,
since soundalike registrations are a particular problem in countries
like China, whose primary writing system uses characters rather than
letters,” Susan Scafidi, founder and director of the Fashion Law
Institute told Business of Fashion.

Thus far, Choo’s invalidation request has only succeeded in
bringing attention to the up-and-coming designer Jerry Chu. He told
Business of Fashion, “I’m surprised so many people would care about
me, an independent designer, a student.”