A New York federal court used the U.S. trademark law to stop an overseas infringer of the Juicy Couture mark from selling its allegedly infringing clothing product in the U.S. The products were track suits similar to the iconic Juicy Couture tracksuits, and sold under the trade name Juicy Girl. The court, however, did not go so far as to stop the competitor from selling the allegedly infringing products from its Hong Kong website to customers outside the U.S. Juicy Couture had registered some of its marks in Hong Kong, but had not registered its Juicy Girl mark. This vulnerability has severely impacted global sales as the Hong Kong website sold over $13 million in 2011 alone.

This case reminds us how important it is to do periodic audits of your trademark portfolio to reveal gaps in protection.