Gerber Onesies...Legal Issues
I was lurking in the Etsy forums the other day, when I came across someone who had had some of their listings pulled from the site for trademark infringement and was confused as to why.
*They were selling embellished 'onesies' on Etsy.
So, out of curiousity, I shot off an email to Gerber asking for specifics as to what they consider trademark infringement. I received this response from an attorney with Gerber, here is an exerpt from their email:
"You are entitled to use Gerber's trademark "Onesies" when you are referring to an actual Gerber Childrenswear-brand Onesies-brand one-piece garment.
You can identify such garments by the presence of the Gerber baby head tag in the neck area and a rectangular white tag with the word "onesies" in blue located just above the left leg opening of the garment.
There are other features that distinguish my client's garment from that of others, and if you have any question regarding whether you are selling a genuine Onesies garment, please ask.
If you use the term "Onesies" in relation to only genuine Gerber Childrenswear one-piece underwear, then you are using the trademark properly, provided your use does not suggest an affiliation with Gerber.
You cannot, however, use the terms "Onesies", "Onesie", or anything similar if you are referring to a garment that is not a genuine Gerber Childrenswear garment. "
Hopefully, this will clear up some of the issues other sellers may be having or might have had in the past.
Photograph provided by: SewItForYou
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2 comments:
I am one of the seller's that had my listings removed yesterday. Since I use American Apparel garments, I can not use the term "onesie". I had to re-list all of my items as "infant bodysuits". This is such a bummer because realistically, no one is going to search for a onesie using the term "infant bodysuit", which will in turn, hurt my business in the long run :(
kelly
www.theurbanthimble.etsy.com
Onesies should be deemed a generic brand. When you look up the meaning of a trade mark, it specifies that the product should originiate from a unique source (china?) and should distinguish itself from it's competitors. What is different from Gerber's 1 pc. underwear vs. it's competitors? Really...great way to keep the income coming in for a paltry product.
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