"Supreme Italia" Fraud Sentenced to Jail Time & $10.4M Damages

Two men responsible for fake store fronts "hijacking" the Supreme name and branding have been sentenced to jail time after a lengthy legal battle with the New York-based brand.

Despite Supreme already being a well-established brand, Michele Di Pierro took advantage of a "first-to-file" trademark system in which trademark registrations are issued to the first party to file an application for intellectual property and not neccessarily the first to use the mark, as explained by legal commentator The Fashion Law.

The scheme sought to capitalise on the fact that Supreme had not yet acquired trademark registrations in numerous international territories including Italy and Spain, enabling Di Pierro to secure them. The fake "Supreme" store fronts went on to sell copies of Supreme merchandise under the "Supreme Italia" or "Supreme Spain" trademark.

The pair attempted to argue that the operation sold "legal" fakes and previously dismissed the fraud charges as “absurd, unfounded, and slanderous”.

Sentencing judge Martin Beddoe disagreed, stating in his ruling that the Di Pierros “hijacked every facet of [Supreme’s] identity and plagiarized it” in a “brazen” and “offensive” operation riddled with “dishonesty.”

Di Pierro and his son have been sentenced to 8 and 3 years behind bars respectively after being found guilty of two counts of fraud. The pair were ordered to pay monetary damages of $10.4million (£7.5million) to Supreme.