Harley-Davidson Sues British Retailer Over Copycat T-Shirts
The Motor Company wants clothing store ‘Next’ to destroy apparel that apes its classic logo.
There’s an old proverb that says, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” In that case, the Motor Company must be feeling pretty flattered right about now. That’s because the U.K.-based clothing retailer Next recently rolled out a line of children’s t-shirts that blatantly copies the classic Harley-Davidson bar & shield shape.
On its website , the clothing store calls the copycat shirts, “motorbike-inspired graphic with flame sleeve prints.” Granted, there’s certainly no trademark on angel wings and flames for the shirts designed for ages 3 through 16. However, the Next shirts go one step further with a prominent shape in the center that’s definitely more than a little similar to Harley-Davidson’s signature emblem.
Selling Bar & Shield clothes are essential to the Harley brand
In a lawsuit initiated by Harley-Davidson, documents assert that “graphic material and text which is…commonly seen in the context of motorcycle-based branding and more specifically the claimants’ branding.” The documents continue that the copycat shirts may cause “confusion on the part of the relevant average consumer.”
You can’t blame the MoCo for being protective. After all, approximately 5% of the company’s annual revenue comes from clothing sales. In dollar terms, that’s $244 million from apparel alone. This, at a time when overall profit decreased 23% in the last quarter. The company attributes the falling profit to the impact of higher interest rates on borrowing costs for buyers of its pricey bikes.
The defendant doesn’t seem very confident
The lawsuit between Harley-Davidson and Next is taking place in a High Court in London. The desired outcome for the plaintiff is that Next destroy all remaining garments that are evocative of the bar and shield logo. However, it’s not immediately clear in any monetary damages are being sought.
Reading between the lines, it appears that Next isn’t totally confident that it will prevail. To stimulate fast sales, the price of the shirts was slashed 50% from their original price of £12 to £17 down to £6 to £8.50. The new price is roughly equivalent to about $7 to $11 each for readers without a calculator handy.
The battle with Next over the t-shirts is reminiscent of a similar lawsuit that transpired with Urban Outfitters in 2017. Urban Outfitters was rebranding genuine, vintage Harley-Davidson shirts with its own “Urban Renewal” branding. In that case, Urban Outfitters agreed to stop selling the mutilated Harley merchandise.
Images: Next, Harley-Davidson