Over view and Back ground of Supreme Italia
Supreme Italia is an Italian group of companies that manufact ured and sold counter fe it goods of the world famous street wear brand " S upr eme . " The company was activ ely enga ged in activities in the mid - 2010 s , particularly with a focus on the Chinese market . The company had no relationship with Supreme New York and was exp anding its business in a way that vio lated intelle ctual property rights .
The company ' s particular spot light came in 2018 when it announced a partners hip with Samsung Electronics , a South Korean electr onics manufact urer . At the time , Samsung was a big topic when it announced that it would collabor ate with Supreme Italia to com mem or ate the launch of the Galaxy A 8 s .
Problem s with Samsung ' s partners hip and their impact
In December 2018, Samsung proud ly announced its partners hip with Supreme Italia at an event in Beijing , China . However , it soon turned out that this " S upr eme " was not the head quar ters , and it developed into a big sc andal . Supreme New York ' s head quar ters immediately issued a statement saying it had " no partners hip with Samsung , " and Samsung ' s reput ation was great ly dam aged as a result .
The incident led to critic ism of Samsung ' s failure to carry out proper due di ligence , expos ing the sweet ness of its brand management . In particular , the low aw aren ess of intelle ctual property rights was point ed out , ra ising questions about the credi bility of the company as a global company .
Supreme Italia ' s business model
Supreme Italia was cle ver ly explo iting the loop ho les in the international trad emark registration system . The company ac quir ed the trad emark rights of " S upr eme " in countries and regions where the company ' s head quar ters , Supreme , did not register trad emar ks , and pret ended to be leg ally operating its business . It activ ely registered trad emar ks , especially in China , Italy , Spain and other countries , and oper ated as " legal counter fe it " based on local laws .
Such a business model is called " tr adem ark squ atting , " and is a typ ical plo y for intelle ctual property infr ing ement aim ed at international brand s . What was distin ctive was that Supreme Italia was not just a counter fe it manufact urer , but that it was operating in an organiz ed manner , taking advantage of the legal gre y zone .
Legal War with the Supreme Court
Supreme New York has been wag ing a fier ce legal offen sive against Supreme Italia since the late 2010 s . In 2019, a Chinese court ru led that Supreme Italia ' s trad emark rights were invalid ated , and an order was issued to ban the sale of the company ' s products . This case has set an important preced ent for intelle ctual property rights protection in China .
In 2020, the Italian cour ts also ru led that the activities of Supreme Italia were illegal , effectiv ely putting the company into a state of suspen sion . This series of law su its is still being studi ed as an important case study for international brand s in their fight against counter fe it ers .
Impa cts and less ons learned on the industry
The Supreme Italia case was a les son in how careful global companies should be when sele cting partners . The following points are particularly important :
- The need for thor ough due di ligence prior to brand affili ation
- Con fir mation of the status of international trad emark registration
- Legal che cks when ent ering a contract with a local company
- Early engagement of intelle ctual property experts
It is reported that Samsung has significant ly strengthen ed its review process for brand partners hips since this incident . In addition , the incident has acceler ated the movement of many multin ational companies to review their brand protection policies .