Aboutwear, a subsidiary of the SBA-owned textile manufacturing company Utenos trikotažo, has managed to limit the e-commerce of German clothing. "Verslo žinios" reported the use of the trademark "About You" in the European Union (EU).
According to the portal, the EU Intellectual Property Office partially satisfied the Lithuanian company's request and recognized "About You" as invalid in classes 25 and 35: clothing, footwear, headgear, as well as for online retail (handbags, textile products, clothes, etc.).
The "About You" mark will not be valid for online sales of clothing, footwear, headgear, as well as retail sales of handbags, clothing, textiles and similar products.
According to Dovilė Tamoševičienė, the chairman of the board of Utena trikotaž, due to the aggressive "About You" advertising campaign in Lithuania and the misleading similarity to the Lithuanian brand, "Aboutwear" suffered damages and had to adjust its business strategy. According to her, such a decision not only restores justice, but also shows that billion-dollar companies must respect the trademarks and other intellectual property of much smaller companies.
In 2022, the Lithuanian company applied to the EU service with a request to recognize "About You" as invalid throughout the EU for identical goods and services for which the trademark "About Baltic Underwear" belonging to "Aboutwear" is registered, which was registered in the EU in 2011, at that time several "About You" " sign variations - in 2014.
