[E-trademarks] VETEMENTS case going up to SCOTUS

Wed Sep 10 20:06:23 UTC 2025

I studied French for years in high school and college, so while I'm not
fluent by any means, but I can get by.  And I can't ever remember
encountering the word "veuve."  I could tell that it was *a* French word,
but I didn't know what it meant.  For whatever that's worth.

Cheers,

Sam Castree, III

*Sam Castree Law, LLC*
*3421 W. Elm St.*
*McHenry, IL 60050*
*(815) 344-6300*

On Wed, Sep 10, 2025 at 1:41 PM Welch, John L. via E-trademarks <
e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com> wrote:

> The CAFC said this:
>
>
>
> “[T]he word in question [VETEMENTS] is a simple and common word—the word
> for clothing. On the other hand, “widow” requires a more advanced
> vocabulary. This, therefore, distinguishes this case from the aspect of *Palm
> Bay *that was premised on “an appreciable number of purchasers [being]
> unlikely to be aware that VEUVE means ‘widow’” in French, and therefore
> “unlikely to translate the marks into English.” *Palm Bay*, 396 F.3d at
> 1377 (emphasis omitted) (citation omitted).”
>
>
>
> Do we have any French speakers out there? Is “veuve” an obscure word?
>
>
>
> PS: *Palm Bay* was a likelihood of confusion case [not a genericness (or
> descriptiveness) case] in which the mark VEUVE ROYALE was found to be
> confusingly similar to VEUVE CLIQUOT for wine, but THE WIDOW was not
> confusingly similar, since consumers would not translate VEUVE as WIDOW..
>
>
>
> JLW
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *John L. Welch*
>
> *Senior Counsel*
>
> Admitted to Practice: Massachusetts, New York, and Washington, DC
>
> jwelch at WolfGreenfield.com
>
> Tel. 617.646.8285
>
> <http://thettablog.blogspot.com/>
>
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> *From:* E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com> *On Behalf
> Of *Jessica R. Friedman via E-trademarks
> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 10, 2025 11:18 AM
> *To:* For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek
> legal advice. <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
> *Cc:* Jessica R. Friedman <jrfriedman at litproplaw.com>
> *Subject:* [E-trademarks] VETEMENTS case going up to SCOTUS
>
>
>
>
>
>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/world/europe/vetements-trademark-lawsuit.html
> raises a few questions for me:
>
>
>
>    1. The NY Times reporter analogizes the registration of VEUVE CLIQUOT,
>    which means “widow cliquot” and refers to the company matriarch, for
>    champagne, to the registration of VETEMENTS, which in French means
>    clothing, for clothing. Is that an analogy the applicant has actually made,
>    or is this just the usual ignorance of NY Times articles when it comes to
>    IP?
>
>
>
>    2. The PTO refused registration on the ground that the mark is merely
>    descriptive and that it appears to be generic. How can it be both?
>
>
>
>    3. The applicant’s response to the OA included the argument that
>    “vetements” referred only to clothing as a category, while they are
>    applying to register specific items of clothing: “*Although the word
>    “clothing” may have a relationship to an overall category of products, it
>    is not the descriptive (nor generic) term for any specific item. A
>    purchaser would not say they want to “buy a clothing.” Further, when the
>    mark VETEMENTS is encountered an observer would first have to undertake
>    translation of the word, and then draw a relationship to a specific item
>    such as a sweatshirt”. *I understand that we have to try any and every
>    credible argument, but that one doesn’t strike me as falling into that
>    category.
>
>
>
>
>
> Jessica R. Friedman
>
> Attorney at Law
>
> 300 East 59 Street, Ste. 2406
>
> New York, NY 10022
>
> Phone: 212-220-0900
>
> Cell: 917-647-1884
>
> E-mail: *jrfriedman at litproplaw.com <jrfriedman at litproplaw.com>*
>
> URL: *www.literarypropertylaw.com <http://www.literarypropertylaw.com/>*
>
>
>
> [image: 1479430908386_PastedImage]
>
>
>
>
>
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