Judge allows Nirvana's lawsuit against Marc Jacobs to proceed

15 November 2019, 12:39 | Updated: 15 November 2019, 15:16

Get the latest on the grunge rockers' lawsuit against the high fashion brand, who they've accused of lifting their iconic logo.

Nirvana have been granted permission to continue pursuing their lawsuit against Marc Jacobs.

Earlier this year it was reported that Nirvana L.L.C were suing the fashion brand for copying the famous smiley face logo for their "Redux Grunge Collection".

Then, it was reported that Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, his former Nirvana bandmate Krist Novoselic and Courtney Love were among those being called by the designer as witnesses in the case.

Now, as reported by Rolling Stone, a judge has turned down the fashion label's request to dismiss the complaint.

READ MORE: What Does The Nirvana Smiley Face Logo Mean?

Compare and contrast the two items here:

READ MORE: Courtney Love hits out at fashion label for copying Kurt Cobain t-shirt from 1992 Rolling Stone's cover

Judge John Kronstadt believes that the brand doesn't have enough grounds to dismiss the lawsuit and agrees the only “discernible difference” between the Nirvana smiley face logo and the Mark Jacobs smiley face is the use of M and J for eyes.

The US judge added: “the issue presented as to likelihood of confusion is not whether the marks are identical. It is whether they are sufficiently similar ‘in their entirety’ to make confusion likely… Whether a fact-finder may ultimately conclude that certain distinctions ‘render the marks dissimilar’ cannot be resolved through the motion.”

READ MORE: Inside the Frances Bean-curated Kurt Cobain clothing line Kurt Was Here

It's not the first time a brand has seemed to come under fire for using Nirvana and their late frontman Kurt Cobain for inspiration this year.

Back in May, Courtney Love hit out at a fashion brand who has appeared to take inspiration from a T-shirt worn by Cobain on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in 1992.

Fashion designer Demna Gvasalia unveiled his Autumn-winter collection for his Vetements clothing brand, which included a tee which brandished the words: "Corporate magazines still suck A LOT".

See it below, alongside Courtney Love's comment, which read: "You guys WHAT the FUCK? I hate being put in this position. You should know better!"

Love may have a point, since the oversized t-shirt does look a lot like the one worn by Cobain's on the magazine cover, with the only difference being the use of "A LOT".

See an image of the t-shirt Kurt wore for Nirvana's 1992 Rolling Stone cover here