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Online jeweler settles suit with top designers

By Teresa Novellino
July 28, 2009

New York--A judge has issued an injunction that prohibits OverstockJeweler.com from using the trademarks or selling jewelry that infringes on the copyrights of a group of high-profile jewelry designers who sued the online retailer.

The ruling was issued as part of a settlement agreement reached in federal court on July 1 between OverstockJeweler.com (including company president Elena Castaneda and Delaware-based Ejeweler LLC) and a group of plaintiffs that included the following designer jewelry companies: David Yurman, Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Gucci and Bulgari, according to documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.

The settlement stemmed from lawsuits dating back to 2007, which were ultimately combined, including one filed by Yurman Studio Inc., which cited OverstockJeweler.com's method of showcasing its own product by using the terms "inspired by," "copies of," "replicas of" or "knockoffs of" in conjunction with the names of famous jewelry designers and their collections, including Yurman's, according to the lawsuit.

The judge's ruling stated that the defendants had "infringed plaintiffs' intellectual property rights," and that going forward, OverstockJewelry.com and its subsidiaries/related companies, including BlingJewelry.com, are restrained from utilizing the designers' trademarks.

In the case of David Yurman, for instance, the defendants may no longer utilize any of the company's registered trademarks, including "David Yurman," "The Cable Collection," "The Thoroughbred Collection," "Silver Ice" or "Albion," court papers said. The defendants are also prohibited from referencing the name "Van Cleef and Arpels" and the brand's "Alhambra" collection. Similar restrictions were listed for the other plaintiffs.

The court ruling also listed and showed images of specific products from each of the companies for which OverstockJeweler.com will be "permanently enjoined and restrained from...importing, manufacturing, purchasing, selling, offering for sale, advertising, promoting and/or distributing goods, products and/or merchandise that are substantially similar in overall appearance and/or infringe the copyright in and to the designs protected by the Yurman Copyrights, the Cartier Copyrights, the Van Cleef and Arpels Copyrights, the Gucci Copyrights and/or the Bulgari Copyrights," court documents said.

On its Web site, OverstockJeweler.com issued the following statement at the bottom of its home page:

"Public apology to David Yurman, Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Gucci and Bulgari: OverstockJeweler.com and its president, Elena Castaneda, confirm the resolution of the trademark and copyright infringement lawsuits brought against them by David Yurman, Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Gucci and Bulgari. Overstockjeweler.com and Castaneda apologize for the harm resulting from their unauthorized use of the trademarks and protected designs of David Yurman, Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Gucci and Bulgari and have agreed not to make any such use in the future."
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