Lululemon Sues Costco for Selling Alleged “Dupes”

The world of fashion and clothing can be very complex when it comes to intellectual property issues.

We live in a world where consumers want as much as they can for as little as they can pay, especially when it comes to clothing. Many retailers pick up on this. And while retailers won’t just duplicate another company or product maker’s name in blatant violation of intellectual property law, there is an emerging market called dupes.

What are Dupes?

Dupes are clothing that mimic another brand’s look, feel, fabric, fit or style. They aren’t exact knockoffs, and may be labeled or branded completely differently, but with many kinds of clothing, it can be very easy to just mimic these kinds of features.

In fact, many fast-fashion retailers do just this, copying the styles of more expensive brands, but not copying them so exactly so as to get sued.

Lululemon Files Suit

But athleisure wear maker Lululemon has decided that retailer Costco has gone too far with its dupes of their athleisure wear brand, and has filed lawsuits against Costco for, among other things, unfair competition, design patent infringement and trade dress infringement. Trade dress covers a product’s look, shape, or style, as opposed to a phrase or word or logo, which would be more covered by standard trademark protection.

The Lawsuit Against Costco

In a recent suit, Lululemon alleges that Costco has used its brand to sell straight up knockoffs, and in doing so has violated trade dress and design patents owned by Lululemon.

Lululemon alleges that not only did Costco copy many of Lululemon’s most popular styles, selling them for a fraction of the price, but that in doing so, Costco is diluting Lululemon’s brand in the eyes of the public which, it contends, may not know the difference between Costco’s product and Lululemon’s product.

Lululemon alleges that Costco wants consumers to believe that the products are authentic Lululemon products, and does little or nothing to clarify that they are in fact not associated with Lululemon.

What is Unique and Thus Protectable?

Cases like these can be very difficult.

On the one hand, a company like Lululemon may spend millions of dollars not only developing its product to make it just right, but also, to build its brand and reputation in the eyes of the public.

On the other hand, things like leggings or hoodies can be very generic; someone cannot own what is otherwise a standard look or design for a hoodie, or for track pants. Someone could not say, for example they have a trade dress on, or a design patent on, drawstring track pants—that is just too obvious and generic.

Often, fashion makers will include flourishes or design details, to make them more distinctive and ornamental, as a way of distinguishing their unique brand. These features tell competitors to avoid including them on the competitor’s clothing, if they want to avoid being sued for infringement.

If you’re in the fashion industry, you need good intellectual property attorneys. Call the West Palm Beach commercial litigation attorneys at Pike & Lustig to help you with your trademark, patent or copyright legal issues.

Sources:

usatoday.com/story/graphics/2025/07/23/lululemon-costco-lawsuit-item-comparison/85337434007/

nbcnews.com/business/business-news/lululemon-sues-costco-selling-alleged-dupes-rcna216221