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Retail queen: Tory Burch is suing a little-known accessories company for allegedly copying her designs
Tory Burch is suing a little-known accessories company for allegedly copying her designs.
WWD reports that the fashion designer filed a lawsuit on Friday against Bluebell Accessories Inc, claiming that it was selling 'counterfeit' goods bearing her signature double-T logo.
The emblem, which appears on a range of Ms Burch's goods including ballet flats and handbags, has been a key part of her carefully cultivated multi-billion-dollar brand.
Bluebell, a New York-based wholesale company, has removed the offending items from its website, bluebellwholesale.com, however its owners have failed to provide information on who supplied them.
Ms Burch, 46, reportedly hired investigators to purchase an assortment of necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets from the Bluebell website for verification last fall.
When the 'unauthorized reproductions' arrived, her lawyers issued a cease-and-desist letter to Bluebell co-owners Jessica Min and Sung Ki Min.
In response the products were removed from sale.
However pertinent details to the case were not provided such as sale documentation and supplier lists.
Ms Burch is now suing Bluebell for an undisclosed sum, on the grounds of intellectual property infringement.
The long list of claims against the retailer include trademark counterfeiting, trademark and copyright infringement, false designation of origin and false descriptions, trademark dilution, unfair competition, and injury to business reputation.
It isn't the first time Ms Burch has taken a company to court over copyright issues.
Last Dec ember she filed a lawsuit against her ex-husband, Chris, claiming that he stole her trade secrets to establish his own brand, C. Wonder.
The New York Post reported that she was 'aghast' when Mr Burch opened his first store in SoHo last year, just blocks away from one of her boutiques, as it was 'stocked with mass-market versions of the top selling Tory Burch items'.
Spot the difference: Although this is not one of the offending designs, this necklace by Bluebell (left) uses similar colors and materials to the Tory Burch original (right)
A month earlier he had accused her of attempting to sabotage his bid to sell his share of the company, which is now valued at $ 2 billion.
The former couple, who founded the Tory Burch label in 2003, settled their legal dispute on New Year's Eve.
It was decided that Mr Burch, 59, would retain a stake in Tory Burch LLC, while two minority investors joined the business.
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