[/floatr]Yomiuri: Bar told to stop using Chanel name
The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday ordered a bar in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, to stop calling itself Snack Chanel and pay 2.5 million yen in compensation to the Swiss corporation that administers use of the brand name. The Swiss corporation filed the suit, demanding the bar not use the designer brand's name and pay 13 million yen in compensation. Presiding Judge Masami Ichikawa said, "[The bar] has damaged the high-class image of Chanel and harmed the company's profitability." According to the ruling, the manager began operating the bar in September 2005. The ruling said that using the name Chanel for the nightspot violates the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, which prohibits activities violating business ethics. The court estimated the amount of damage at 2.5 million yen based on the length of time the bar used the Chanel name and including the plaintiff's legal fees. The manager of the bar failed to appear at the oral proceedings, and did not submit a written refutation to the court.
Chanel brought an almost identical case against a [I]snakku over 10 years ago and won in the Supreme Court so these guys didn't really stand a chance.[/I]
