Back in 2018 Marc Jacobs released their Redux Grunge Collection, which had a t-shirt that featured an uncanny resemblance to the iconic Nirvana smiley face logo. The only difference was that instead of a single x for each eye it was replaced with M and J (for the brand's initials) and it says "HEAVEN" instead of "NIRVANA" above the face.
Nirvana thought the resemblance was so similar they filed a lawsuit against the brand,saying it was a "blatant ripoff" on their design. Now in a new report from Loudwire, Jacobs is countersuing the band seeking a "declaration that the group's copyright registration for the logo is invalid and unenforceable." This follows an earlier lawsuit where Jacobs tried to dismiss the lawsuit, when a judge ruled that Nirvana DID in fact own the logo and the shirt was similar enough to the original.
Lawyers for Marc Jacobs have even gone to the surviving members of the band in an attempt to see who originally created the logo. Both Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic have claimed not knowing who originally created the smiley face. Lawyers for Nirvana then said that neither musicians were questioned with a basis on if Cobain was the original creator or not.
See the shirts side by side below. What do you think?