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Coachella Sues Urban Outfitters

Festival alleges trademark infringements resulting in unfair competition

Published

7 years ago

March 17, 2017

Urban Outfitters (Philadelphia) is being sued by Coachella Music Festival (Indio, Calif.) for allegedly trying to capitalize on the California event’s image, reports Women’s Wear Daily. The suit says that the company’s brand Free People “is improperly using a number of ‘famous’ and long-registered Coachella trademarks to sell a number of products incorporating the Coachella name.”

Consequently, the suit continues, the retailer has misdirected consumers and diverted online sales from the official brand, resulting in “unfair competition.” It has reportedly reached out to Urban Outfitters with a cease-and-desist order various times.

The festival has partnerships with H&M (Stockholm) and Pandora (Oakland, Calif.) to legally license its brand name.

Neither company has commented further on the allegations.

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