New Development in the 20 Year Old Legal Battle between Marcel Fashion Group and Lucky Brand Dungarees

Florida-based fashion clothing wholesaler, Marcel Fashion Group INC-DBA Get Lucky & My Lucky Day, was established in the year 1985. From T-shirts to stylish accessories, this brand deals in all types of latest fashion demands. In addition, Marcel Group is renowned for releasing holiday collections specially manufactured and designed for celebrations like Halloween and Christmas as well as it empowers social cause awareness by designing and promoting clothing, exclusively for programs like Cancer Awareness. 

Marcel Group has been the talk of the town for nearly two decades now, owing to the 20-year-old legal battle between the Marcel Fashion Group and Lucky Brand Dungarees Inc. This long and unfortunate dispute has its roots in respect of the trademarked phrase “Get Lucky”.

This dispute began in the year 2001, when this 35-year-old brand, Marcel Fashion Group sued Lucky Brand Dungarees for using its trademarked phrase “Get Lucky” on its apparels. However, in the year 2003, both the parties mutually settled their dispute with an agreement that Lucky would refrain itself from using the phrase “Get Lucky” on its clothing. Even after the settlement, brawl between both the brands didn’t come to an end, as Lucky sued Marcel in the year 2005 on account that Marcel licensed “Get Lucky” using a much similar brand marketing strategy resembling to that of Lucky’s, to which Marcel countered by contending that Lucky Dungarees was still using the trademarked phrase and hence, violating the terms of settlement jotted down in 2003. Finally, the court decided in favour of Marcel and ordered Lucky to pay a hefty amount of $300,000, owing to breach of the settlement contract.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Marcel again sued Lucky in the year 2011 claiming the use of the word “lucky” in various different ways. However, the case moved in favour of Lucky on the ground that the brand was only barred from using the trademarked phrase “Get Lucky”. After a round of appeals by both the brands on the question that, whether the dispute comes under the ambit of Res Judicata, meaning that disputing parties are barred from re-litigating claims which have been decided previously in other cases.

 The dispute was appealed and heard before the Supreme Court of the United States on January 13th, 2020, wherein Marcel argued that the lower court’s decision was entirely consistent with precedent and the rules of civil procedure. The 20-year-old dispute has been finally set up for a decision in late June this year.

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