PRODUCTS

UPDATE: Supreme Italia Loses Its Registered Trademarks in China

It’s only been a couple of weeks since Supreme Italia opened its giant Shanghai location, and the counterfeit organization has already lost its registered trademarks in China. The Drum broke the news yesterday with an article that includes quotes from Chinese commerce expert Melanie Zhu. She sheds some light on how trademark laws work in China.

Trademark protection is territorial, a mark registered in the US is not automatically protected in other countries, and the owner has to go through the trademark application procedure to seek the protection of the mark in other jurisdictions.

In mainland China, trademark protection mainly adopts a first-to-file principle, say, those who first apply for and register the marks have the legal ownership over the marks. Of course, when there are trademark disputes means to help the genuine owners to retrieve the marks if the marks are preemptively registered by bad faith squatters.

It looks like justice will prevail in this chapter of Supreme’s international legal battle. Between this and the Erik Brunetti FUCT case, skateboarding is really shaping global trademark laws in 2019. We wonder what Steve Rocco makes of all of this?

UPDATE 05.05.20: WWD broke the news today that Supreme has secured its trademark in China. And Supreme Italia’s Shanghai location (pictured below) has been rebranded as Hummel. This closes a chapter in one of the biggest copyright infringement cases to emerge in recent years. Right on to the real, and death to the fakers.

Images Via Highsnobiety & Hypebeast

INTERVIEWS

‘Good Work’ Episode 2 Now Playing on Redbull Skateboarding Channel

Alphonzo talks about how his past time of photoshopping images of celebrities skateboarding and sharing them on social media turned into a full-fledged business in this episode of “Good Work”.

Good Work episode 2 features Alphonzo Rawls and his #EVERYBODYSKATES and Savalé Footwear brands.

Alphonzo talks about how his past time of photoshopping images of celebrities skateboarding and sharing them on social media turned into a full-fledged business.

#EVERYBODYSKATES brand sells shirts, hoodies, hats, boards, and accessories.

He also had been involved in designing shoes for international footwear brands.

After 25 years of working with other companies, he decided to launch his own luxury footwear brand, Savalé.

Alf was also a pro-skater back in the day.

He started skating when he was 10 and turned pro when he was just 16 years old.

He thinks that skateboarding has somehow helped him be successful in business.

“Skateboarding, it’s for the most part, a really inconsistent sport, which means you definitely have to have some patience and some perseverance…It’s allowed me to think outside the box and apply that ‘out of the box’ thinking to run my business”

Redbull’s Good Work Series features skater-owned and skater-operated businesses.

You can watch the first episode here or on the Red Bull Skateboarding YouTube Channel.

CULTURE

DC Shoes Drops Andy Warhol Collection

DC Shoes just released its WARHOL X DC: COLLISIONS in honor of Andy Warhol, one of the most iconic artists of the 20th century.

In collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation, DC created four themed capsules under the collection namely: Strength and Fragility, Life and Death, Saint & Sinners, and War & Peace.

You can browse the collection here.

PRODUCTS

Independent Trucks Welcomes Leticia Bufoni to their Team

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A post shared by Leticia Bufoni (@leticiabufoni)

Leticia Bufoni is Independent Trucks’ newest team rider. The six-time X Games gold medalist from Sao Paulo, Brazil began competing at the age of 14 (2007 X Games) and moved to the United State since.

She turned pro in 2017 with Plan B Skateboards. She competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics representing Brazil.

She was named one of the Most Powerful Women in International Sports by Forbes Magazine in 2018. She also made it to Forbes Brazil’s “Under 30” list.