These are not three brands that are typically seen together. However, Audemars Piguet has recently filed papers in New York to sue Tommy Hilfiger and Movado on trademark infringement and trade dress dilution. Movado has recently created a watch for Tommy Hilfiger that looks quite similar to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. It has the octagon shaped case, similar lugs, and three subdials on the dial. The dial has a “Tommy Hilfiger” logo in the middle, but Audemars Piguet feels that the logo is too small and will not be easily recognized. They fear that consumers will mistake this new watch for the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and will not realize what they have purchased until it is too late. They are also afraid that it could cause market dilution because people will begin to buy the $250 Tommy Hilfiger Eton watch instead of the $20,000 – $30,000 Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. Audemars Piguet is asking that all of the watches be destroyed, along with any marketing materials.
What do you think? Do you think consumers could be easily confused?
