US Supreme Court urged to reject Vetements trademark appeal

A representative for the US government has urged the Supreme Court to decline Vetements’ attempt to register its name as a trademark in the region.

In a newly filed petition, solicitor general John Sauer has backed an initial decision by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2021 to deny the registration due to the generic nature of the word ‘vetements’, which translates to ‘clothing’ in French.

The fashion brand turned to the US Supreme Court with a request to review the trademark case after a lower court rejected the application. A US appeals court then agreed with the ruling, determining that enough Americans would understand the word’s French meaning.

Vetements argued that judging a non-English trademark by its translation was unfair, and didn’t align with how customers see the brand. It further pointed out that different US courts had conflicting views on the issue, and thus opted to bring it forth to the Supreme Court for clarification.

In his brief, Sauer defends the USPTO’s decision in relation to its stance on the translations of certain terms. In one argument, Sauer claims that registering ‘vetements’ in the US would be on par with another country granting rights to the term ‘clothing’.

Vetements responded to Sauer in a brief that challenged the court on its view that consumers would widely translate the name, stating there was no evidence to suggest they would do so. It further argued that its name had already been registered in other English-speaking countries, proof, the brand claims, that it would not impact foreign markets.