A small fashion business that had been accused of having a "identical brand" to high-street behemoth Zara has prevailed in court.
The business had threatened House of Zana, situated in Darlington, UK with legal action.
The clothing line's owner Amber Kotrri debuted it online in 2018 before opening her first physical location in Darlington the following year.
In response to her request to trademark the name House of Zana, Zara's legal team wrote her a letter stating that the brand was "conceptually identical" to theirs and "confusingly similar" to theirs for consumers.
Amber Kottri said, "I honestly believed I would win; that's why I fought it so hard."
Mrs. Kottri claimed she was pressured to change the name of her company and get rid of all current branding, but she refused to sign the contract because she believed there was no chance that anybody would mistake her company for Zara and that the change would harm it irreparably.
A tribunal judge has now sided with Mrs. Kottri and determined that House of Zana may continue to use its original name.
"I am convinced that the variations between the marks... are adequate to rule out the risk of direct confusion on the part of the average customer," Judge Matthew Williams said.
The tribunal judge said, "I accept that Ms Kotrri's Albanian origin and the notion of clothing made with the enchanted delicacy of fairies inspired the choice of name, and I see no ulterior intent in the usage of the name.
"I am not convinced that the mental association would be more than ephemeral," the author writes, "even for individuals who, based on their assessment of the comparable component, summon to mind the name ZARA."
I'm extremely happy, Mrs. Kottri said to the PA news agency. You really do feel as like a weight has been lifted off of your shoulders.
"I honestly believed I would win, which is why I battled so hard, but little doubts might come into your mind in the middle of the night when they start stating that if I lost, I'd have to pay their costs.
But I was sure that anyone could see that they were different.
"I feel like what I've won back is my time, since it was so time-consuming to think about it and plan for it," Ms. Kottri continued.
"That's time that can now be invested in expanding the company."
The brand name "dilutes the individuality and reputation of the Zara brand," according to Zara, who claimed in a letter to Mrs. Kottri that there was a risk that "consumers will misread, mishear, mispronounce, and/or otherwise interpret House of Zana as Zara."
The company was founded by Mrs. Kotrri while she and her husband were residing in Albania. The name was derived from the Albanian word for "fairy."
"Our name is very precious and personal to us and offers no business danger to Zara, and their enormous market," she remarked in April.
While declining to comment on the ruling itself, a representative for Zara said: "We continue to wish Ms. Kottri and her company luck in the future."
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