Said the lawyer for Dogue, quoted in "Vogue Says There’s Only Room for One Top Dogue/The creator of Dogue, a small canine fashion magazine (circulation: under 100), is being sued by Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue, for trademark infringement" (NYT).
And here's a quote from Olga Portnaya, the creator and editor in chief of Dogue: "Art and culture have always evolved through reinterpretation and dialogue. For me, this is a larger fight: I’m not just fighting for my own work and our community, but for other independent creators."
Well, there is Teen Vogue, so you might think there'd also be a Dog Vogue — some people buy expensive clothes and accessories for their dogs — if Vogue had a dog magazine, it might very well be called Dogue, so I do think there's some potential for confusion.
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46 comments:
Another reason to hate the people involved in Vogue.
Lawsuits I hope fail.
Vogue has a real bone to pick with Dogue
29% have no sense of humor?!
Just one vote per blog visitor, Inag.
You need a 'process is punishment' tag for this one.
Dogue is a cognate with DOGE and Dogecoin too. The original doge meme (pre-Elon Musk) was about a real Shiba Inu dog. Vogue had no issue with the near-homonym at the time.
Maybe Vogue would win if named "Dog Vogue" per the "Teen Vogue" precedent, but hopefully not here.
I cheered for People Eating Tasty Animals (1995) when they grabbed the PETA website name too.
Reasons I'm hoping it fails:
1) Likelihood of confusion is low--Vogue's dog magazine would be called Dog Vogue, not Dogue.
2) Fair use--parody deserves to be protected.
3) Intellectual property law, and especially trademark law, is far too broad; it protects too much. To the extent there is any likelihood of confusion, that likelihood was created by a tradition of judicial overprotection.
Unlike copyright and patent law, trademark law generally involves taking existing things out of the public domain and handing them over to private interests. That should only happen where there is a clear pubic benefit.
Does Dogue trigger Vogue's homely new editor, nepo baby Chloe Malle?
I think that the only reason Vogue is doing this is that the *have* to vigorously protect its name under the current law or risk having a later finding that a lack of action here allows a later, more clear or dangerous (costly) violation succeed because they failed to guard their branding.
Blame the state of IP law, not Vogue.
People talk about the mystery of women, particularly why women would pay even a nickel for a magazine that promotes clothes most could never afford to buy, and those who are sufficiently well-heeled will buy and wear only once. But the mystery of women pales compared to the mystery of DOG; we don't even know where the word came from. Spelled backwards it's GOD -- which ought to be even more mysterious than DOG, but the world is overstuffed with people who tell everyone else exactly what GOD thinks on every subject except DOG. That isn't mysterious at all. I say, let's solve the DOG mystery first. Dogue is doing their part and getting persecuted for it, and old story, actually.
What is the Condé Nast scandal?
AI Overview
Condé Nast recently faced intense scrutiny for laying off numerous Teen Vogue staffers and, in November 2025, firing four union employees who confronted HR executives over these cuts. The incident, described as illegal retaliation by the union and "gross misconduct" by the company, sparked major backlash regarding labor practices and corporate leadership.
Pretty damned low, Mr. Lynch.
"I don’t think anyone would have difficulty recognizing the difference."
A single glance ought to reveal which publication employs the more intellectually engaging models.
In Spanish “dog” spelled backwards is “errop”. I’d like to see a regional version of the magazine called “Dogue of Venice”.
Just based on the name, I would have at least wondered whether it was published by Vogue.
"Does Dogue trigger Vogue's homely new editor, nepo baby Chloe Malle?"
Looked her up. She's not French bulldog ill-favored, but any retriever breeder has the advantage over her charm-wise. Miss Malle is a second-degree nepo baby. Imagine Candice Bergen's Hollywood career if her father had been Edgar Bergen, insurance salesman.
Plenty of Dogues can be found in the pages of Vogue.
… so I do think there's some potential for confusion.
Only among the college-educated. Everyone else relies on this mysterious thing called common sense.
Vogue taken to the cleaners by the Harvard Lampoon in 1938, and they didn't even change the name. Granted, that was back when rich people had the grace to take a harmless punch and bounce back still smelling of roses -- noblesse oblige, I think they called it. However, there's little nobility on the left, now or since Jean-Jacques Rousseau. If Chloe Malle is only half the POS her mother is, that explains everything.
Who’s a good boy?
Strike a pose…
Strike a pose…
Dogue (dogue, dogue)
Dogue (dogue, dogue)
Look around, every time is heartache
Whenever your master goes (look around).
You try everything you can to escape
And follow them, you know (life that you know).
When all else fails and you long to be
Distracted better than you are today
I know a way you can get away
It's called a magazine for dogs
And here's what it's for, so
C’mon, Dogue (Dogue)
Fido and Hachiko
Loyalty with no end
Lassie and Rin Tin Tin
Benji and the movies he was in
Roselle, Endal and Sully
No Biden dogs here
Chips, Gander, Rip and Stubby
Saved lives over there
They had style, they had grace
Laika went into space
Eddie from Frasier, and Lady too
Dorothy’s Toto we love you
Dogue.
All y'all need to remember that this dispute and concurrent media coverage will add $ millions to the GDP.
I've defended between 20 and 30 trademark suits over the years. Two takeaways: First is that a segment of the general public (around 20%) will ALWAYS have confusion. They're confused about whether Ford Motor Company is affiliated with former President Ford, and a zillion other things. Second, trademark litigation is a money pit in which the transaction costs of expert and percipient discovery, and of motion practice, will usually gobble up whatever competitive issues are being addressed by the lawsuit. It is therefore almost always unrewarding for the litigants. Financially rewarding for the lawyers.
“Look... me and the McDonald's people got this little misunderstanding. See, they're McDonald's... I'm McDowell's. They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs. They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick. We both got two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, but their buns have sesame seeds. My buns have no seeds.”
@Ampersand:
You write "&" and I write "+" -- sue me!
Just based on the name, I would have at least wondered whether it was published by Vogue.
That you would merely "wonder" whether it was published by Vogue should mean no likelihood of confusion. Also, Vogue doesn't own every other word ending in "ogue."
Also, Vogue doesn't own every other word ending in 'ogue.'"
Vogue doesn't even own vogue, not unless their first issue went on the newsstands in 1564. Dogue, however, owns dogue. In fact, their claim to precedence is so good that Dogue could sue Vogue for pretending to be a humorous periodical.
"If you like to mix fashion with your pick-pocketing, then Rogue magazine is for you!"
Big Mike said...
… so I do think there's some potential for confusion.
Only among the college-educated. Everyone else relies on this mysterious thing called common sense.
3/17/26, 12:14 PM
Unfortunately, common sense now comes with ads and a subscription.
3/17/26, 12:54 PM
And McDowell's had those snazzy plaid uniforms.
@Ampersand I'm no lawyer but I think you have to look past a suit by suit analysis. If you don't sue to defend your trademark then it will soon become the target of every copycat out there. The threat of action must be some deterrent, no? And that deterrent has value not measured in your argument.
As an aside, my only life experience in this area came when I tried to sell a guitar my friend made on ebay. He duplicated Eddie Van Halen's red/black/white Frankenstrat. Famous guitar. I got a letter the next day from his attorney to cease and desist or they would sue. eBay pulled the auction for the same reason. As I found out EVH sells guitars with the same iconic scheme. Now I don't know if they would have sued, but it was a deterrent for sure.
Yes, I was going to point out that it's difficult to slap a copyright ownership and exert control over a common English word. Release the hounds on those lawyers that thought they could get away with it, I hope it gets run out of court. The Fogue of War.
I should soften the above to say "If you don't sue to defend your trademark then it COULD become the target of every copycat out there."
You assert without evidence that Vogue is a fashion magazine. That ship sailed decades ago.
Maybe we should sue Vogue for pretending to be a fashion magazine.
Now I don't know if they would have sued, but it was a deterrent for sure
I hate to hear that stuff. In the early days of EBay so many manufacturers and vendors sent out those threats- they were scared. I ignored all the ones from when I was reselling something I purchased…
Vogue is high fashion, but Glamour has more nip slips in their photos.
"rehajm said...
I hate to hear that stuff. In the early days of EBay so many manufacturers and vendors sent out those threats- they were scared. I ignored all the ones from when I was reselling something I purchased…"
Well, I did sell it to someone who contacted me prior to the ad being pulled. So I saved the ebay fees...
This is Vogue's trademark lawyers doing due diligence (and billing handsomely for it). But Dogue is a semi-satirical commentary, not a trademark infringement.
And if Vogue was going to publish a dog magazine, they should have thought of it sooner.
Time for the publishers of Vogue to call their attack dog lawyers back to the kennel. But when the publishers get the bill they'll discover that their dogs got lots of chow--and billed for it as well.
Vogue is a drogue on Dogue.
Back in my domaining days, my morning wasn't complete until I got a C&D on one of my domains.
One domain was similar to the largest spa (wellness) publication in the world. First contacted by their European office and then by the chief counsel here in the States.
We hashed out an agreement over a five-minute phone call. Considering I paid a regular registration fee for the domain - and we settled on mid-$x,xxx - it was easily one of my better deals.
Several weeks later, it was a bit of a trip watching a national baseball telecast and seeing that domain/developed website during one of the commercial breaks.
Second, trademark litigation is a money pit in which the transaction costs of expert and percipient discovery, and of motion practice, will usually gobble up whatever competitive issues are being addressed by the lawsuit. It is therefore almost always unrewarding for the litigants. Financially rewarding for the lawyers.
Yep.
Remember a few years ago when Jack Daniels sued a small company that made a dog-poop deodorizing spray in a bottle that emulated the look and feel of JD's, and called itself "Old No. 2?" And JD won? Dogs are just down by law, I guess. The man just won't let them get ahead. CC, JSM
Are dogs playing poker transsocial?
dogie(n.)
"motherless calf in a herd," 1887, cowboy slang, of uncertain origin.
Dogies are not generally snappish, but they may be a bit nippish while sucking at a teat.
I'm hiring a lawyer to trademark "Catmopolitan," "Bird Housekeeping," and "The New Porker." And, of course, "Breeder's Digest."
@Rocco
LOL
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