A Victoria, Canada fashion show being thrown to raise funds for a local charity got an ugly surprise when lawyers for Vogue fashion magazine made claims that the event is using a trademark of Vogue without the publication’s express written permission. The Victoria Fashion’s Night Out event was set to include a large number of local businesses from the downtown area that were going to show case brand new fashions, but it appears that things have been brought to a halt with the letter from Vogue’s high powered team of lawyers. If the event, whether for charity or not, does not immediately change its name then the lawyers have stated that they will bring a lawsuit against the team holding it on the grounds of intellectual property breach. Maneuvers such as this have been popular by the recorded music industry in defense of their artists and record labels and even by Disney which has threatened lawsuits against day care centers for their unlicensed use of its characters on the walls of their facilities, but it is a definite first for a fashion magazine to sue a charity over a name that many critics argue does not give consumers the impression that Vogue is hosting or present.

The issue that lawyers are upset over is the fact that Vogue has previously used the title Fashion’s Night Out in New York City in 2009. This year, the event will take place in a large number of cities so the confusion, Vogue fears, could cause issues with the magazine’s readership. Since the trademark is literally Fashion’s Night Out, the charity now plans to change the name of the Victoria event to Victoria’s Fashion Night to avoid problems.