A distinctively shaped bag can be eligible for protection as a three-dimensional unregistered trademark under Italian law, the IP Court of Rome has ruled.The case concerned French firm Longchamp’s ‘Le Pliage’ bag – a tote bag as seen sported by the Duchess of Cambridge.  The court backed Longchamp’s claim that its shape had sufficient distinctive features to be recognised by the public as a unique distinctive product originating from a specific brand.  It further ruled that Longchamp could seek enforcement against the defendant even though the alleged infringing items were poor quality copies sold at low prices to a different market segment.

App will test if handbag is genuine

Meanwhile an app due for release next year will enable consumers to check whether a handbag is genuine or not. Developed by Japanese IT company NEC Corp, the app uses biometric technology to recognize object fingerprints. Shoppers would send a picture of a bag on sale, which would be checked against the app’s cloud based database.  This can compare the two for fine patterns on leather, metal or plastic surfaces to give an immediate verdict on authenticity, claimed to be accurate to an error rate of one in one million.