The boots of the famous Italian influencer, Chiara Ferragni, infringe the intellectual property rights protecting the design of Moon Boot boots. This was the ruling of the Milan Court's Specialized Section for Corporate Matters last January (judgment no. 491/2), upholding the lawsuit filed by Tecnica Group S.p.a. against the influencer's company and the companies that manufacture and sell the shoes signed "Chiara Ferragni".
The Moon Boot, shoes inspired by the boots worn by Neil Armstrong and the first astronauts in the famous lunar mission, have become the most famous après ski boots in the world. According to the Court of Milan, they are not just simple snow boots, but a work of industrial design, and therefore protected by intellectual property rights (art. 2.10 of the Italian Intellectual Property Law, no. 633 of April 22, 1941).
The defendants defended themselves by claiming the originality of their product, but the legal grounds of the judgment are very clear: adding a bit of glitter and sparkles is not enough to claim a "creative autonomy that would actually be reduced to the extravagance conferred to the models by the use of glitter".
The Court of Milan has sentenced the defendants to withdraw Chiara Ferragni's snow boots from the market and to pay the company that owns Moon Boot compensation, equivalent to the profit obtained from the sale of the infringing boots.
Perhaps as a result of the decision, a new rule for the fashion world will be imposed: glitter and sequins do not give any touch of originality. And if a Court based in the capital of international fashion says so, we will have to pay attention…