High-Profile Fashion Support For Apple

Alexander Wang, Nicholas Ghesquière, Paul Smith, Dries Van Noten, and Alber Elbaz are among the 111 high-profile designers and industry figures who have officially come out in support of Apple in its IP court case with Samsung.

The Mac creator has been in a lengthy battle with the South Korean company since 2012, when it accused the latter of copying three of the main design elements of its ground-breaking iPhone: the rounded-corner front face, its bezel and its app-icon grid interface. So far, Samsung has been ordered to pay $1 billion to Apple, although has managed to reduce the sum to $548 million through a series of appeals, reports the Business of Fashion.

The interest for the designers - who have all signed an "amicus brief", a legal document filed by people or brands not directly involved with a case but who have a strong interest in the subject matter and its outcome - is clear. If Samsung succeeds with its appeal, it will potentially set a precedent for future IP disputes, with the concern being that it will be easier for brands to violate patents.

"Those who have signed the brief have a serious concern about what's happening with Samsung, and they are also completely dedicated to design as a way of achieving business success," industrial designer Charles Mauro, founder of Mauro New Media and the lead representative of the group, told BoF. "Apple is obviously a prime example of that and in that regard they are aligned with Apple. But I think it was important to those individuals who signed the brief that design is properly positioned in this major case."

The group's support also shines the spotlight on the importance of not only protecting IP, but the value of visual recognition and association with a brand.

"The fashion industry is finally beginning to understand that there is not only adequate intellectual property mechanisms for protecting brand attributes, but there's also sound underlying marketing science and cognitive science about why visual design is so valuable as an asset," Mauro continued. "I think this is a key asset of what the brief brings to the table."

Currently a date is set in court for Samsung and Apple on October 11. Should Apple be unsuccessful, they could be ordered to pay back a significant proportion of the sum they have already been awarded.