©-LAW

Readers might remember that, a couple of years ago, this blog  reported  on a lawsuit filed in Italy by former Argentinean footballer  Diego Armando Maradona  against Italian fashion house  Dolce&Gabbana .  The reason?  The use, by the defendants, of his name on a jersey (below) worn by a model during a fashion show held in Naples in 2009  [Maradona  played for Napoli  for a few years, and in that city he reached the peak of his career] . The jersey, which was sold neither before nor after the show, carried the number ‘10’, ie the same number used by Maradona while at Napoli, and had the same colour combination as Napoli jerseys. Images of the jersey appeared on general interest media and also on the Dolce&Gabbana website.  Maradona sued and claimed damages for EUR 1 million (!) due to the unauthorized commercial exploitation of his name. He submitted that Dolce&Gabbana’s use of his name had allowed the...

The Dolce&Gabbana 'MARADONA' jersey A few days ago a number of newspapers (mostly in Italian and Spanish) reported that former Argentinean footballer  Diego Armando Maradona  has sued Italian fashion house  Dolce&Gabbana . The reason? According to  Corriere della Sera ,  the  Pibe de Oro  (as Maradona was nicknamed) claims that fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have unduly exploited his name for commercial reasons.  During a fashion show held in the city centre of Naples  [Maradona  played for Napoli  for a few years, and in that city he reached the peak of his career]  in 2016, a model wore a jersey bearing the number 10  [ie the number that Maradona used to have]  and the word 'MARADONA'. The jersey itself also had the same colour combination of Napoli's jerseys, ie light blue and white. The complaint filed before the Milan Court of First Instance is not publicly available, so it ...