Laura Ganoza and Jeffrey Greene on Luxury Goods Resale Market – 'Balance effective advertising with legal constraints'

Foley & Lardner LLP partners Laura Ganoza and Jeffrey Greene offer insight on a case with potential significant impact on luxury goods secondary market in The Fashion Law article, “Chanel’s Resale Battles Raise Critical Questions for the Secondary Market.”

“As the Chanel case shows, resellers and consigners cannot trade off brands’ reputation or [co-opt] branded advertisements [as their] own,” said Greene, who noted that the pending outcome in Chanel v. WGACA may boost “brands’ power to prosecute alleged copyright and trademark infringement.”

“If anything, this case demonstrates that resellers – of any size and in any location – are not necessarily immune from liability,” Greene added, emphasizing that resellers need to practice diligent caution in their marketing and avoid, where possible, “any suggestion that their goods are affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by the original brand owner.” 

Ganoza said that one way to tackle authentication challenges in the secondary market are agreements between brands and resellers that could facilitate resource-sharing to ensure product authenticity. She added that a growing number of brands have now created their own resale ecosystems, allowing customers to buy and sell pre-owned goods within a brand-controlled environment and mitigating the fashion industry’s sustainability controversies by reducing its environmental impact.