Diane von Furstenberg Sues Target

Diane von Furstenberg has filed suit over Target's fairly blatant copy of her Spotted Frog print dress, according to the Associated Press. Women's Wear Daily reported yesterday that DVF Studio had implemented some sort of program to combat copyright infringement (Copyright VAu 704-976 for the spotted frog print), and has filed several suits of a similar nature over the last few years. Here's a nice blog with pictures showing the dresses at issue in the 2007 Forever 21 suit.

The Spotted Frog print is very distinct, and as soon as I saw the Target dress online, I immediately thought that Tarjay was attempting a DVF-knockoff. The specific dress and pattern that the Target dress resembles is the Large Spotted Frog Beige print in the Samara style. This particular print comes in several other styles, and in another color as well (I own and love the Green Spotted Frog Jessica). I keep seeing blogs on this topic with pictures of the Green Spotted Frog Jessica or the Green Spotted Frog Gaby. The Target dress does NOT look like those.

I'll leave the debate of the legal merits of the case to the Fashion Lawyer , the Law Blog, and the Las Vegas Trademark Attorney (all offering a worthwhile read on the subject), but judge for yourselves based on the photos:

Below is the DVF dress:

The Target dress:

Target has produced other dresses that are very similar to DVF designs:

DVF Navy Scattered Stones Abel:

Target knockoff:

DVF Black Volante:

Target knockoff:

I am not sure if DVF has a case here, but I know that even as an owner of one of the Spotted Frog DVF dresses, I was tempted to buy that Target dress. I only found it online, and Target.com had it listed as an "online only" item. The AP reported that the complaint stated that the dress was not pulled from retail stores, but it has been pulled from target.com. I don't think it was actually ever in any retail stores. If anyone has actually seen it in a store, please comment.

Fashion Indie has an interesting perspective on this topic. Target has recently been teaming up with high-end designers to offer their fashions at a more modest price point. Apparently, DVF wasn't on board in this case. What do you think? Is DVF justified?