“Which One Is Gentle Monster?”—Court Rules Sunglasses Pouch Design Copied
Creatrip Team
15 days ago
Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster won a design cancellation ruling against Blue Elephant over a sunglasses pouch. The Patent Court found Blue Elephant’s 2023 registered pouch copied Gentle Monster’s 2021 design in overall shape, pleat treatment at the opening, opening/closing mechanism, central top stitching, bottom structure, edge finishing, and logo placement. Blue Elephant argued some features were industry-standard, but the court said Gentle Monster’s pouch has a distinctive visual aesthetic. Gentle Monster called out an exploit of a lenient partial-examination registration system and said the ruling protects its original brand value. The Blue Elephant operator faces separate criminal charges for allegedly copying products, sending designs to overseas factories, and distributing about 321,000 counterfeit items (estimated value 12.3 billion KRW). The defendant denies wrongdoing, saying eyewear must fit human anatomy and thus may resemble other designs.
