'A Question of' Trademark Infringement

 A Question Of is a relatively young brand which was established in 2010 by three friends who believe in sustainable fashion. As a socially responsible brand, their clothes are made in Africa from organic cotton. 

So far, you're probably thinking that this is a great brand who have perfected the balance between cool and ethical clothing, and I most certainly agree. Where things start to go a little wrong is the belief that "their digital prints and slogans [are] developed in collaboration with a line of talented artists."

As can be seen in the photo above, A Question Of are currently selling tops with the slogan 'Hello Kitty'. Unless you've been hiding under a rock your whole life, you'll know that Hello Kitty is a little Japanese bobtail cat who was born in London in 1974, which is now a global brand worth $5 billion per year.

A quick trademark search on the Intellectual Property Office website confirms that, as I suspected, Hello Kitty is a registered trademark.

Trade mark EU006983282

A Question Of is potentially guilty of unauthorized use of a registered trademark. It does not matter if they intended to infringe the mark or not. The unauthorized use of the mark 'Hello Kitty' is also particularly contentious as the mark is so well known. 

What do you think about this issue?

Bemsy x