The founder of upmarket infant clothing brand JoJo Maman Bebe has raised concerns that numerous UK mothers re-selling second hand baby clothes online could be “exploiting” the intellectual property (IP) of various fashion labels.
Laura Tenison, JoJo Maman Bebe’s founder, suggested that she was particularly concerned by the number of online resellers using original images from the Jojo Maman Bebe website in their eBay listings and advertisements for second hand garments.
Commenting on a Facebook group advertising pre-worn branded clothing for sale, Ms Tenison said: “It is against the law to reproduce images which you have not paid for and are taken off our website or catalogues.
“The models have given consent for use by JoJo and approved publications and reproduction of our IP is not acceptable,” she added.
“If this is not taken serious[ly] we will have to ask Facebook to close down the group – which would be a shame because we like the hand-me-down culture when the prices are fair”.
According to a recent report in The Telegraph, the reselling of baby clothes online is growing increasingly popular.
Reports suggest that some resellers well-established on the internet, such as eBay shop Thingimijigs, have gone from selling pre-worn garments as a personal hobby to expanding, moving to new premises and welcoming annual turnovers as high as £1.3million.
Ms Tenison later apologised for her remarks, which she suggested were written in anger. However, the outburst offers an insight into some of the IP challenges which may arise in today’s online marketplaces.