PONY UP: Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. may have won the war against the U.S. Polo Association last year, but Monday, it lost a battle. After winning its trademark infringement case against the USPA, the apparel maker, now known as Ralph Lauren Corp., was denied its request for attorneys’ fees from the polo club. The decision comes nearly a year after New York federal judge Robert Sweet ruled that the USPA could not use a horse-and-rider symbol evocative of Polo’s famed logo in conjunction with the word “polo” to mark its fragrances.
Judge Sweet, who granted Ralph Lauren and its fragrance licensee L’Oréal USA Inc., a permanent injunction in May, said Monday that in order to be awarded attorneys’ fees, it must show that “extraordinary relief is necessary.”
Ralph Lauren and L’Oréal were unable to meet the legal criteria for “extraordinary relief,” according to the judge, and were thus denied their bid to recoup those costs.