Tiffany Stevens

Hi!!! Please check out the alert Erin Huntington and I did - our first for DLA Piper - on #sustainablity, #sourcing and #greenwashing, including some actions items to make sure your #ESG efforts don't get you into hot water. #supplychain #stratedgy #manufacturing #supplychain #classaction #fashionlaw #wdrcs #fon #FashionLawyerLife

19

2 Comments

📣 📣 Important read alert! 📣 📣 Check out this Op-Ed published by Model Alliance founder Sara Ziff as she argues beautifully about the importance of stronger labor protections in the fashion industry and its link to gender-based violence. Incendii Law PLLC joins our friends at Model Alliance in calling for Gov. Hochul to sign the Fashion Workers Act into law by the end of the year. With federal civil rights under attack, it is more important than ever for New York leaders to pass strong protections for workers and survivors of gender-based violence. This important law will provide protections for an industry with some of the darkest and most exploitive labor practices imaginable. https://lnkd.in/eNnFUt8h

3

Following in the footsteps of the H&M and Reformation, the climate transition plan of Levi Strauss & Co. focuses on three key areas for significant progress. The first sees the company improving its internal operations by reducing scope 1 and 2 emissions through investments in energy-efficient technologies, renewable energy, and a global energy management system to guide decision-making https://lnkd.in/g5J5FzBK. All fine from an #ESG perspective but what of #greenleases which could provide Levi Strauss & Co. and other #fashion businesses with an easy win as Rebecca Facey explains https://lnkd.in/gqb7g8dK

5

In its prime years, Vogue Magazine was famous for its “September Issue”, the biggest, thickest, most-anticipated publication in the fashion world. Editor in Chief Anna Wintour commented that it had to make a satisfying “thwunk” sound when it landed on one’s desk. Well, it’s not a September Issue, but we got a satisfying “thwunk” when we printed out the 169-page decision from Judge Rochon enjoining the Tapestry-Capri merger. Rather than showcasing the latest fashions and provocations in merger antitrust, we report that the opinion is somewhat staid and old-fashioned. It is a careful recycling of fashions from the 1960s with some late 90s and early naught flourises, rather than a full-on embrace of the latest fads in antitrust enforcement. Please read our initial impressions at:

47

3 Comments

You may have already read about this enforcement action, but you may not have considered what it really is about, what it really means, and the implications for #doublemateriality disclosure language in the United States. The bottom line seems to be if you say something in your 10 – K, the SEC will assume it’s financially material and therefore they expect you to fully treat the issue and associated disclosures as #material. #sustainability #climate #corporategovernance #ESG

10

Late last month California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB347 and AB2515, which create new enforcement authority for per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) in textile articles, juvenile products, and food packaging (AB 347) and menstrual products (AB 2515). AB 347 is particularly notable because it requires all companies manufacturing regulated products to register with the State (through the Department of Toxic Substances Control), pay a fee, and certify compliance by 2029. The new law allows DTSC to demand testing of products to satisfy compliance with PFAS laws and grants DTSC authority to seek civil penalties of a minimum of $10,000 on a case-by-case basis or enjoin sales of products that violate the law. The new law also indicates that the State may not attempt to rely on existing authority under California advertising and consumer protection laws to bring enforcement actions for PFAS in the regulated products.

9

Jonathan Lazarow is quoted in an article in WWD titled “Fashion Law Is Changing, and It Starts With Tapestry vs. the FTC.” The article discusses how the outcome of the FTC’s challenge to Tapestry Inc.’s $8.5 billion deal to buy Capri Holdings Limited should set precedent, and it won’t be the last case to do so.   The article states that with Tapestry-Capri, the FTC has taken a novel approach, going after not fashion, or even accessories, but the much more narrow category of affordable luxury handbags. The outcome of the case could rewrite the rules in fashion dealmaking.   “How far can we really go?” Lazarow asks in examining what’s at stake in the case. “What do we have to do in industry consolidation? Does that ‘roll up’ strategy of consolidating the market really work? Or is the FTC going to continue to step in and say, ‘Sorry, guys, that’s a problem.’ That might affect private equity strategies. For some of these larger players, like these larger strategic companies, it might define or dictate long-term business strategy.”   The full article can be at: https://lnkd.in/gyfwAFyZ   #MergersandAcquisitions #MandA #Mergers #CorporateDeals #FTC #Tapestry #Capri #Retail #LuxuryBrands

4

VERY EXCITED! 1st Episode of Deanna's Dialogues: Navigating Carbon Sustainability Podcast (linked below) with Rhina Granados (1PointFive) on Rhina's journey in carbon & sustainability & Carbon Sequestration Projects. Give it a listen! #DeannaReitmanComodities #FaegreDrinker

59

5 Comments

Thanks to #LicensingInternational for the mention in today's article on the emergence of celebrity and influencer brand deals being structured as joint ventures. These equity deals are now industry standard as they provide distinct benefits to each side. The manufacturing partner, which typically has to make a substantial investment to launch and support the branded program, has the comfort of a permanent relationship. The celebrity has a far greater financial upside because of the equity participation, and can still command guaranteed income for marketing and other defined services. The key is to arrive at an equity split where both sides are satisfied. //https://lnkd.in/eThq9sxR

34

Recommended Reading: Former World Bank President and former USTR Robert Zoellick's Op Ed on the importance of a strong and vigorous US digital trade policy over the next four years. https://lnkd.in/eZBg4BBS Echoing perspectives in the GDA's recent USG comments on supply chain resilience (https://lnkd.in/eiecYAQx); economic development (https://lnkd.in/dDVQNbY2); and pending trade negotiations (https://lnkd.in/gg6nRBZ6), key points follow: * Digital trade includes the cross-border transfer of goods and services, such as software, streaming entertainment, e-commerce orders and consulting expertise. * Digital trade and data transfer will dominate tomorrow’s trading system and spur innovation and productivity. * The IMF estimates that global exports of digital services in 2022 reached $3.8 trillion, about 54% of all services exports. In that year, U.S. exports of digitally enabled services amounted to more than $650 billion and digitally enabled goods exports more than $700 billion. * Mr. Trump’s nominee for U.S. trade representative, Jamieson Greer, is probably familiar with digital-trade rules from his time as Mr. Lighthizer’s chief of staff. [So too] Commerce Secretary-designate Howard Lutnick. * The administration could begin by promoting useful provisions from the USMCA. The agreement’s digital chapter ... clears away governmental impediments to innovation and rejects regulations that increase costs. * Mr. Lighthizer’s deal prohibits limits on cross-border data transfers, with an exception for a “legitimate public policy objective.” * The USMCA also prohibits requiring the transfer or access to software source code (including algorithms) as a condition for sale or use. * Governments can’t require companies to locate computing facilities favorably as a condition for doing business, except for government contracts. * And the terms block customs duties for digital transactions, while allowing nondiscriminatory domestic taxes. * In general, the digital chapter promotes interoperability. It recognizes electronic signatures and encourages eliminating paperwork for cross-border commerce, adding consumer protections, limiting unsolicited communications, and protecting individual privacy rights. * The Trump administration could build on the USMCA’s cybersecurity provision by encouraging common action against foreign threats and criminals. Mr. Trump should like that the USMCA’s definition of national security preserves U.S. freedom of action. * Mr. Trump ... should foster a new type of negotiation that capitalizes on the country’s innovative spirit and technological advantages. He needs a nontariff digital and data trade agenda.

31

Check out the post from my colleagues Alison Stafford Powell, Paul Amberg, and Rob O'Brien about the long anticipated and extensive new controls announced by the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security on December 2, 2024, to impair China’s indigenous production of advanced semiconductors and other items that can be used in advanced weapon systems, AI, and advanced computing in support of China’s military-civil fusion program. The new rules have a particular focus on the tools used in semiconductor manufacturing and on certain high bandwidth memory, and this is also reflected in the type of entities newly-designated on the Entity List.

3

This week my conversation is with Leo White, who is Chief IP Counsel and Associate General Counsel for The Duracell Company. During our conversation we begin by briefly talking about patent strategy, but then move quickly to brand protection, trademarks, trade dress and effectively working with customs agencies around the world. While Duracell does patent its various battery technologies, and while White is responsible for maintaining a worldwide patent portfolio for the company, the company’s trademark and trade dress portfolio are the IP tools of choice used most often when working to fight the never-ending battle against counterfeiters and copycats, and to also protect against gray market imports.

10

I had the pleasure of joining the Blackletter Podcast to discuss IP Considerations for Designers, Apparel Companies, and Fashion Houses. In this episode, I discussed: - Trademark and trade dress protections - Navigating IP clearance for fashion brands - Aligning IP considerations with product launch schedules - Combatting counterfeiting & proactive enforcement strategies If you're in fashion or simply interested in the legal landscape of the industry, don't miss this insightful discussion on protecting creativity in a global market! #FashionLaw #IntellectualProperty #Trademark #BrandProtection #FashionIndustry

11

1 Comment

Q. What links Vera Wang and rag & bone, Joe's Jeans Inc., and G-STAR? A. As of a few hours ago Vera Wang will join the other #fashion brands as part of WHP Global's portfolio https://lnkd.in/gprMui4V. A more powerful demonstration of the importance of #IP to the #fashion industry would be hard to find. #fashionlaw.co.uk #FashionLawyerGB

9

By enacting the first extended producer responsibility law for clothing producers in the United States, California sets a path for other U.S. states to follow, as related efforts to address microplastic pollution and fashion waste gain traction nationwide. By 2026, clothing producers in California will be responsible for managing the full lifecycle of their goods, which will include establishing collection sites, maximizing reuse, recycling, and diversion to secondhand markets, and reducing microplastic and PFAS contamination. To learn more about California's landmark Responsible Textile Recovery Act, read Jones Day's Commentary. https://ow.ly/Znn850TPo4S #extendedproducerresponsibility #sustainablefashion #ethicalfashion

1