{"id":5459,"date":"2018-02-02T17:58:59","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T21:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncjolt.org\/?p=5459"},"modified":"2020-06-04T20:52:34","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T20:52:34","slug":"gucci-mane-getting-away-dilution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/blogs\/gucci-mane-getting-away-dilution\/","title":{"rendered":"Gucci Mane: Getting Away with Dilution?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Radric Davis\u2014better known as Gucci Mane<\/a>\u2014is one busy guy. In addition to putting out new music in 2017, he launched a line of shoes with Reebok<\/a>\u00ae<\/sup> and his own clothing line<\/a>. With his recent expansion into fashion, why isn\u2019t he the subject of trademark dilution suit by fashion giant, Gucci?
\nGenerally, trademark dilution can be thought of as chiseling away a famous brand value or distinctiveness. Trademark dilution frequently involves the unauthorized use of another\u2019s famous mark to promote a noncompeting good<\/a>. The Lanham Act provides federal protection for trademark infringement arising out of two types of dilution<\/a>: dilution by blurring and dilution by tarnishment. Dilution by blurring occurs when a consumer\u2019s association with the first user\u2019s mark is \u201cblurred\u201d because of the subsequent user\u2019s use of the same or similar mark. Dilution by tarnishment occurs when the first user\u2019s mark is \u201ctarnished\u201d by an association with the subsequent user\u2019s negative image or poor quality. To bring a dilution claim, four elements<\/a> must be proven: that the plaintiff owns a famous mark that is distinctive, that the defendant is using a mark that allegedly dilutes the plaintiff\u2019s mark, that the similarity between the marks gives rise to an association, and that the association is likely to impair the distinctiveness of the plaintiff\u2019s mark.<\/p>\n

From the outside, it seems like Gucci would have a strong case against Gucci Mane. So, why haven\u2019t they sued?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps Gucci doesn\u2019t mind the association. Gucci Mane\u2019s style<\/a> aligns with Gucci\u2019s overall look, and Gucci\u2019s design campaign has been popularized through popular musicians. In Gucci\u2019s 2018 cruise show, the brand used multiple musicians as models<\/a> while pushing the brand\u2019s creative cosmos by selecting music artists to walk the runway. Rappers like 2 Chainz<\/a> and A$AP Rocky<\/a> have been turning their attention to Gucci<\/a> when they are looking to be extra boujee<\/a>. Even indie artists have turned to the brand for fashion inspiration; recently, B\u00f8rns\u2019 music video<\/a> look has been getting a lot of attention from fashion influencers<\/a>.
\nAn internet search of \u201cGucci Mane shoes\u201d or \u201cGucci Mane clothing line\u201d indicates that Radric Davis has been careful to separate his stage name from his brands. His line with Reebok is branded Guwop<\/a>, and his clothing line is call Delantic<\/a>. In fact, it appears that Gucci Mane is taking precautions to keep a lawsuit with Gucci off his bucket list<\/a>. However, Gucci Mane\u2019s name is attached to the branding campaigns through third party websites<\/a> and product reviews.
\nGucci is not oblivious to the value of their intellectual property. The brand has recently sued Forever 21<\/a>, Guess<\/a>, and Alibaba<\/a> for trademark infringement. Perhaps Gucci is not turning a blind eye to Gucci Mane\u2019s effect on their brand\u2014maybe the fashion giant doesn\u2019t see Gucci Mane as a threat. Or, maybe, the brand does not want the bad press that could come with a lawsuit against an artist in an industry that supports their brand and the brand\u2019s popularity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Radric Davis\u2014better known as Gucci Mane\u2014is one busy guy. In addition to putting out new music in 2017, he launched a line of shoes with Reebok\u00ae and his own clothing line. With his recent expansion into fashion, why isn\u2019t he the subject of trademark dilution suit by fashion giant, Gucci? Generally, trademark dilution can be …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5460,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5459"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5459"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6991,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5459\/revisions\/6991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}