Designer Christian Audigier’s Nervous Tattoo, Inc. is being sued by Marc Jacobs’ company for trade dress and trademark infringement over purse designs. Marc Jacobs designs apparel and accessories, including purses, and has a pending application for its random “Marc Jacobs” scrambled trademark. Marc Jacobs has applied the scrambled trademark to the inside lining of the “Marc Jacobs Pretty Nylon” tote bag. And the tote bag’s “size, shape, color or color combinations, product design, texture, and selection and arrangement of materials and accessories” are claimed to serve as its trade dress. Plaintiffs accuse Defendants of selling tote bags that “bear trade dress that unlawfully copies or imitates Plaintiffs’ unique, distinctive, and non-functional Marc Jacobs Pretty Nylon Tote Trade Dress and/or that unlawfully bear marks confusingly similar to the Marc Jacobs Scrambled Trademark.” In addition, Plaintiffs assert claims for unfair competition under Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 and constructive trust.

I understand the precedent in cases like this holds that if the two designs bear overt product name labeling, then the plaintiff has no claim of consumer brand confusion. It’s evident that the designs look almost identical … I have to say I’m on Team Jacobs here. The Ed Hardy line is so fug IMHO, it’s a shame that a design created by a designer with talent might get confused with a tacky hack like Christian Audigier. What do y’all think … does Marc Jacobs have a case here?

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Marc Jacobs made an honest man out of Lorenzo Martone this week, by marrying him in a private ceremony in St. Barts. Following the ceremony, the couples were feted at an exclusive private dinner hosted by Larry Gagosian … The couple got engaged in March of 2009, after a year of dating, and both men have expressed interest in eventually adopting. The most adorable part of their wedding? The cake toppers, which were molded to look exactly like the couple, with mini-Lorenzo in a tux, and mini-Marc wearing his signature kilt and no shirt so as to best showcase his Sponge Bob Squarepants tattoo. Also joining them on top of the cake was Jacobs’ pitbull Daisy.

Woot!! This is great news! It was rumored that the couple were wed in France sometime last year after they got engaged but nothing substantial ever came from those reports (which is why I wasn’t sure if they were really married or not). But I guess the pair finally went and did the deed while they’ve been vacationing in the tropics. The couple have been lookin’ awfully lovey-dovey on their almost daily beach excursions, I guess now we know why. It’s not entirely clear when the men tied the knot (either in 2009 or 2010) but they may have beaten Vince Vaughn and Kyla Weber as the first married couple of the new year. After the jump, check out a few more photos of the husbands in their skimpy speedos as they enjoyed the beach yesterday afternoon …

Let’s send our love and congrats to Mr. & Mr. Jacobs-Martone! May they enjoy a long and very happy life of wedded bliss together!

[Photo credit: INFdaily; Source via Source]

Ya know, minus the wedgie pickin’, these two are pretty adorable together. They always seem to want to be holding hands and stuff, it’s cute. Considering their work schedules, it’s prolly up to them to decide just how long they want to stay in paradise on St. Bart’s. I don’t expect that the happy couple will remain in the tropics for much longer but they don’t seem to be in a big rush to get home. I can’t say that I blame them at all ;)

[Photo credit: X17]

I’m guessing that Mr. Martone has a differently colored speedo for each day of their vacation. First he rocked the black shorts, then the blue ones and now the red ones. I wonder what color he’ll rock next. Mr. Jacobs seems content to wear the same black speedo on a daily basis, which could get funky if you really think about it. In any event, it really looks like the lovers are having a grand time on holiday. I hope they continue to have fun like this as the week continues … one can never have too many sexy speedo pics in the morning :D

[Photo credit: Splash News]

Ah, love. I can’t say that I blame Marc and Lorenzo very much for spending as much time at the beach as possible. The couple arrived in St. Bart’s last week and have been sunnin’ their buns ever since. From how nice and warm it looks in these photos, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they decided to ring in the New Year there as well … tho, it remains to be seen if they’ll ring in 2010 speedo-clad or not ;)

[Photo credit: Splash News]

Hee hee, we see Marc Jacobs out and about with his Birkin bag more than we see him with Lorenzo or even his BFFs like Victoria Beckham. To be honest, I never once guessed that Jacobs might be toting around books in that expensive bag. I’m not entirely sure what book it is that he is reading in these photos but I’m glad to see the guy relaxing on holiday with a book. Marc Jacobs never struck me as a reader … but it is a good look for him, I think.

[Photo credit: Bauer-Griffin]

Yeah, this doesn’t look like a bad way to celebrate the holidays. I can’t say that I can find much wrong with spending the day relaxing on the beach, soaking up the Sun and just chillin’ out with the one you love most in the world. These two have been going strong for sometime now … I’m still not entirely sure if they are actually married or not but they are deffo devoted and committed to one another. It would seem that Marc and Lorenzo (Marcenzo?) had themselves a merry little Xmas, don’tcha think?

[Photo credit: INFdaily]

… but later in the evening, she changed clothes (of course) to paint the town red with fashion designer and BFF Marc Jacobs. I believe the fur wrap is faux but those leather leggings look like the real deal to me. I much prefer VB in the skimpy trenchcoat … it seems to be her go-to look these days. I understand that Posh is already back in England and, presumably, will be returning home to her family here in SoCal very soon.

[Photo credit: Splash News, INFdaily]

Okay … so yeah, this will be the last Hallowe’en pic of celebs that I’ll post this year … a few days after Hallowe’en and the candy starts to taste stale, same goes for the pics ;) But this is such a great group shot, I had to share it with all y’all. I understand that these folks were partying at Club 57 at Providence Night Club in Manhattan and a great time was had by all. I believe the folks in the UK (where Kylie lives) don’t do Hallowe’en like we yanks do on this side of the pond so I can see why Kylie decided to fly back to the US to celebrate Hallowe’en right. We are happy to have her anytime she wants to come back :)

[Photo credit: INFdaily]

This is but a smattering of the celebs who packed themselves into the ballroom to celebrate Jacobs’s newest collection. So … wanna see what all the fuss was about? After the jump, check out a few of the pieces that walked down the runway yesterday for the Marc Jacobs and the Marc by Marc Jacobs Spring 2010 collections …

This Marc Jacobs collection is much more mature/muted than his more colorful Marc by Marc Jacobs show which also showed at The Armory yesterday:

I deffo like the look of this collection over the other one … but, then again, I always respond better to crazy colors like these. There is no question that Marc Jacobs is the rock star of NY Fashion Week … and he doesn’t seem to ever disappoint.

[Photo credit: Splash News, Wireimage]