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4 Convergence 4 (2008)
Fashion and Copying: Imitation Is Not the Sincerest Form of Flattery

handle is hein.journals/convrg4 and id is 6 raw text is: CONVERGENCE Vol 4 No 1 July 2008

Fashion and Copying:
Imitation is not the Sincerest
Form of Flattery
David Jacoby and Judith S Roth'
'All is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.'
Dr Pangloss in Voltaire's Candide
Introduction
An article by two law professors which appeared in The Virginia Law Review
in late 2006 about fashion design and copying2 has sparked a torrent of
comment in the non-concentric circles of law, fashion and academia. The
article argues that rather than being disadvantaged by a system of intellectual
property (IP) protection that offers only modest protection for 'design'
aspects of clothing, the fashion industry successfully incorporates copying
into its business cycle, allowing copyists to exhaust trends faster so that new
1 DavidJacoby, AB Princeton University, 1975,JD Columbia University, 1978, law clerk,
Hon William H Timbers, US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1978-79), past
Senior Vice-Chair, IBA International Litigation Committee, Adjunct Professor of Law,
Fordham University School of Law. MrJacoby is a partner resident in the New York
office of Schiff Hardin LLP.
Judith S Roth, BA Cornell University, 1974,JD Columbia University, 1977, recipient
Lawrence S Greenbaum Prize, Adjunct Professor of Law, Fordham University School of
Law. Mrs Roth is of counsel, resident in the New York office of Schiff Hardin LLP.
The authors have addressed design protection issues in their practice, primarily
although not exclusively acting for design creators and proprietors. The views expressed
in this article are solely those of the authors, and do not express the position of Schiff
Hardin LLP or its clients.
2  Kal Raustiala and Christopher Sprigman, 'The Piracy Paradox: Innovation and
Intellectual Property in Fashion Design' (2006) 92 U Va L Rev 1687 ('article'). Extracts
also have appeared in The New Republic online (15 March 2005) and various blogs.

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