An independent womenswear boutique has kicked off a media campaign against retail giant Cotton On Group – its last ditch attempt at avoiding a six-figure legal battle in the High Court of New Zealand.
Ruby boutique owner Christine Sharma, who operates four stand-alone stores across New Zealand, said she was “outraged” to discover Cotton On subsidiary Rubi Shoes had been granted trademark registration for its shoes, apparel and retail services earlier this year.
Sharma registered the trademark ‘Ruby’ in 2001 and believed this would protect her against a similar move by the offshore competitor, which launched Rubi Shoes into New Zealand in August. Lawyers advised Sharma that intellectual property officials could have breached a key section of trademark law in granting Rubi Shoes the application.
Lawyers for Cotton On Group disagreed and issued a co-existence offer to Sharman, “allowing” her to sell shoes in her own stores. Ruby boutique produces womenswear collections under the ‘Ruby’ and ‘Madame Hawke’ brands.
“Our worst fears were realised when we started getting calls from customers asking us about shoes and our ‘new store’ in Sylvia Park,” Sharma said.
“We don’t have a store in Sylvia Park. They stole our brand from us – when you say Ruby and Rubi they sound the same, only we don’t have the huge marketing budget behind us to say ‘no, we’re actually much, much different’.”
Sharma is reluctant to take her battle to the next step – New Zealand’s High Court.
“Cotton On might have deep pockets but we’re a small business. We’re looking at a starting figure of $100,000 for a court battle, and why should we invest the effort, the time and the money when we did the right thing in registering the trademark eight years ago?”
Sharma has enlisted a public relations representative to target media groups across New Zealand, with TVNZ spotlighting the issue earlier this month. She hopes the move will encourage Cotton On Group to rethink its position – or at the very least, alert consumers to the differences between the two brands.
Cotton On marketing manager Emily Checinski said the group was unaware of Ruby boutique when it entered the market.
“We certainly mean no harm to Ruby apparel and strongly believe we can coexist due to our vast list of differences, both in product and branding,” she said.
Checinski declined to comment on any further legal matters.