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Zara loses trademark battle with Darlington boutique

By Rachel Douglass

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Business

Image: Zara, archive photo

A small Darlington-based boutique has won a trademark battle against Zara after the fast fashion giant accused the business of being “conceptually identical”.

According to Zara’s case, House of Zana, which is run by Amber Kotrri, had a “high degree of visual and oral similarities” to the retailer, which it said could result in customers confusing one trademark for another.

Julia King, who represented Zara, said the name Zana was too similar and could pose a “serious threat” to Zara if the market became overcrowded with lookalikes.

However, a tribunal found that the link was “too insubstantial and fleeting”.

Kotrri, who set up and named her company in 2019, said she named her brand after the Albanian word for ‘fairies’ due to her husband’s Albanian heritage.

Following the ruling, Kotrri said in an Instagram post on the brand’s page: “Thank you to everyone for all your support. All the kind words of strength, those who signed our petition, shared the news and to all the news outlets who covered this story.

“You all gave me the courage needed to take on fashion giants Zara and I will be forever grateful for you all.”

Zara