THE SALE OF a number of a number of products has been suspended in Zara stores after an illustrator based in California accused the retailer of copying her original designs.
Tuesday Bassen posted images on social media yesterday comparing her own products with those available in Zara stories.
Bassen contacted the retailer to point out the alleged similarities of the products. In response, the retailer’s lawyers said they rejected her claims, telling her there is a “lack of distinctiveness” in her designs.
They said this “makes it hard to see how a significant part of the population anywhere in the world would association the [de]signs with Tuesday Bassen”. Zara’s lawyers also pointed out that its website has 98,000 average monthly users and had only received “a handful of complaints” in relation to the badges.
Bassen’s online posts about the dispute garnered a lot of attention and the parent company of Zara, Intidex, has now said the items in question have been been suspended from sale.
A spokesperson for Intidex told TheJournal.ie that the company “has the utmost respect for the individual creativity of all artists and designers”.
They said it takes all claims concerning third party intellectual property rights “very seriously”.
“Inditex was recently contacted by Tuesday Bassen’s lawyers who noted the use of illustrations in some badges sourced externally and on clothes in its Group stores,” the spokesperson added.
“The company immediately opened an investigation into the matter and suspended the relevant items from sale. Inditex’s legal team is also in contact with Tuesday Bassen’s lawyers to clarify and resolve the situation as swiftly as possible.”
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