In December 2018, Nirvana, L.L.C. filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Marc Jacobs International L.L.C. and others. In the suit, attorneys for Nirvana alleged that Marc Jacobs used the band’s imagery, particularly its “Happy Face” logo, without authorization for the brand’s “Redux Grunge Collection.” Lawyers for Marc Jacobs have now filed a motion for dismissal, The Blast reports and Pitchfork can confirm.

In Marc Jacobs’ motion for dismissal, filed last Friday, March 8 in a California federal court and viewed by Pitchfork, the company’s lawyers argue that Nirvana, L.L.C. is not the legitimate owner of the “Happy Face” logo copyright registration, that the registration is invalid, and that the fashion brand did not copy copyrightable aspects of the logo.

Regarding the first point, Marc Jacobs’ lawyers claim that Kurt Cobain was the creator of the logo and that it remains unclear how he may have transferred the copyright ownership to Nirvana, L.L.C. (which includes Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic). The lawyers’ second claim concerns the different dates and aspects of Nirvana’s original copyright claims, resulting in discrepancies that they believe make the claims invalid.

Thirdly, attorneys for Marc Jacobs argue that the copyright infringement suit should be dismissed because “there is no extrinsic similarity” between the copyrighted art and what Marc Jacobs used on its clothing. Based on their interpretation of Nirvana’s original copyright filings, referred to as “the ’166 Registration,” the attorneys argue:

The ’166 Registration includes the word “Nirvana.” The Accused Products do not. The ’166 Registration includes the Flower Sniffin Writing. The Accused Products do not. The ‘166 Registration includes a smiley face with Xs as eyes. The Accused Products do not; they use a different letter for each eye, the letters M and J, signifying Marc Jacobs. The only similarity between what is covered by the ’166 Registration and the artwork contained on the Accused Products that can be gleaned from the Complaint is the use of a substantially circular outline for the smiley face and a squiggly line used for a mouth, with a tongue sticking out.

In the original complaint, lawyers for Nirvana, L.L.C. state that Marc Jacobs’ “use of copyrighted image on and to promote its product is intentional, and is part and parcel of a wider campaign associate the entire ‘Bootleg Redux Grunge’ collection with Nirvana, one of the founders of the ‘Grunge’ musical genre, so as to make the ‘Grunge’ association with the collection more authentic.”