There is Supreme, a very popular New York-based clothing company and there is Supreme (Italia), a Barletta, Italy-based clothing company that might seem like the Italian-branch of the New York business but is what is called a “legal fake”.
Last year during the launch of the Galaxy A8s, Samsung announced a partnership with Supreme but it didn’t specify until later which of the Supreme brands until after the event. The partnership was actually with the Italian business which planned to open its first store in China and also launch products in collaboration with Samsung. Yes, was, because Samsung has announced the end of the partnership.
Supreme Italia is considered a legal fake because it is riding on the popularity of the original Supreme brand without being affiliated with it in any way. How is this possible? The founders of Supreme Italia applied for trademarks in Italy using the logo and brand name of the New York business. They were able to do so because Supreme New York didn’t register its trademarks in Italy and Spain. The case was taken to court and Supreme Italia lost in Italy but won in Spain where it has a sister-company.
So when Samsung announced the partnership back in December, Supreme New York released an official statement denying it which led to Samsung clarifying which of the businesses it partnered with.
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Now it appears the condemnation of the partnership with a “fake” has forced Samsung to announce the end of the partnership with Supreme Italia. The announcement was made by Samsung’s official Weibo account. Supreme New York doesn’t have a license to sell in China, so don’t expect Samsung to announce a collaboration with them instead.
(Via)
