Seattle Trademark Lawyer

Seattle-based Washington Lawyers for the Arts offers a trademark-centric program next month entitled, “Counterfeit Chic: Legal Protection in the Fashion & Design Industry.” Its Web site describes the program as follows:

“A growing demand for fashion design knock-offs is fueling the counterfeit market and costing the fashion industry millions of dollars a year. While imitation may be the ultimate form of compliment, it is also financially devastating to a small or independent designer. Yet, legal protection in the fashion and design industry is fraught with difficulties. Washington Lawyers for the Arts presents a panel discussion on the ins and outs of legal protection in the fashion industry and how best to arm yourself against counterfeits.”

The brown-bag seminar will be held from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 27 at K2 Sports, 4201 Sixth Avenue South in Seattle. Cost is $35 ($40 at the door) for attorneys and paralegals and $10 ($15 at the door) for artists and students. Register here.

One look no further than today’s New York Times to see that this is a timely program. An op-ed piece links fashion knockoffs to terrorism and says 11% of all clothing is fake. A separate news story reports on Hollywood’s use of trained dogs to sniff out counterfeit DVDs. The dogs are so effective that pirates have offered a $29,000 bounty on them. (Subscription required.)