Steer clear of disputes of the same stripe

Earning one’s stripes never comes easy; more so in these litigious times. It was wise, therefore, that the nuns of the Missionaries of Charity order decided to protect their own blue and-white stripes, whose iconic connotation was hard-earned by their founder, Saint Teresa of Calcutta. That the trademark was granted by the Indian government on the very day she was canonised last year — though made public only last week — was befitting too.

But it was obviously not a moment too soon given the legal slugfest currently raging between Gucci and Forever 21 over the use of blue-red-blue stripes, arguably just a single colour away from Mother Teresa’s saree border. And this fashion brands’ dispute echoes another one raging between two makers of cheerleading uniforms in the US on whether stripes fall into the category of intrinsic utility or design.

Luckily, their utilitarian uniform saree’s three blue stripes on a white base — registered for textiles, stationery and social and charitable services — features one broad and two narrow ones. So, Adidas, the fiercest protector of three equal stripes in the logosphere, will not dispute it, though it has filed suits against Forever 21and Marc Jacobs. West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee’s preference for the colour combination — sartorial and political — presumably will not pose a problem either.