Dive Brief:
- Streetwear brand WaveyBaby filed a trademark infringement lawsuit last week against MSCHF, a Brooklyn-based company known for viral product releases, over its Wavy Baby sneakers, which were developed in collaboration with rapper Tyga.
- WaveyBaby was founded in 2020. The streetwear brand alleges in the lawsuit that when MSCHF launched the similarly named Wavy Baby sneakers two years later, the company used a “confusingly similar” and an “almost identical variation” of its trademarked name.
- This is the second time MSCHF has been sued over the Wavy Baby sneakers, which appear to be parodies of Old Skool skate shoes from Vans. Vans is also suing the company, alleging that they rip off its design and confuse consumers.
Dive Insight:
MSCHF is part art collective, part fashion brand. The company, which launched in 2016, releases new projects, products and services on its website every two weeks that often create a stir. Notable examples include the popular Big Red Boot, shoes called “Birkinstocks” that are made from destroyed Birkin bags and a service that texts pictures of feet generated by AI.
The company’s drops have often taken hold of the fashion world. Vogue has written about the ubiquity among influencers of MSCHF’s Big Red Boot, a pair of cartoonish red boots released late last year that cost $350.
And celebrities including Miley Cyrus, Drake and LeBron James have donned MSCHF’s Satan Shoe, which are revamped Nike Air Max 97 sneakers MSCHF made in collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X in 2021. They each contained a drop of company employees’ blood in the shoes’ air bubbles and cost $1,018.
The shoes sold out in less than in a minute. They also spurred a lawsuit from Nike, which MSCHF settled with by agreeing to give refunds to people who wanted to return the sneakers.
Although Nike quickly ended its lawsuit against the company, lawyers for Vans convinced a federal judge to temporarily block MSCHF from selling its Wavy Baby sneakers while the skate shoe company’s lawsuit plays out in court.
Vans argued that it spent decades promoting its Old Skool shoes, which sell millions of units each year. It alleged that MSCHF and Tyga “shamelessly marketed the Wavy Baby shoe in a direct way to confuse consumers, unlawfully siphon sales from Vans, and intentionally damage Vans’ valuable intellectual property rights.”
A federal judge granted the request from Vans last year to block MSCHF from creating or distributing more Wavy Baby shoes, ruling that the skate shoe company demonstrated it would likely prevail in arguing that the product sowed consumer confusion.
Streetwear maker WaveyBaby argues the Vans lawsuit has shed negative publicity on its own brand, which it says has been seen on the likes of rapper Boosie and NFL player J.C. Jackson. Given their similar names, consumers have often believed WaveyBaby is involved in the lawsuit, even though it isn’t, the company argued.
It is asking the court to block MSCHF from promoting or selling its Wavy Baby sneakers or using any names for its goods or services that copy or are confusingly similar to WaveyBaby’s trademark. WaveyBaby is also seeking unspecified damages.
