Tiffany Defeated in Trademark Case vs. eBay

Companies such as jeweler Tiffany & Co. are responsible for policing their trademarks online, not auction platforms like eBay, a federal judge said Monday.

Tiffany had sued eBay over the sale of counterfeit jewelry on eBay's sites. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan in New York Monday is a defeat for the luxury jeweler.

The judge ruled that eBay can't be held liable for trademark infringement "based solely on their generalized knowledge that trademark infringement might be occurring on their Web sites," The Associated Press reports.

Sullivan's ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed in 2004, in which Tiffany alleged that most items listed on eBay as genuine Tiffany products were fakes. The company said it had asked eBay to remove counterfeit listings, but the sales continued.

EBay spokeswoman Nichola Sharpe said Monday that the ruling "confirms that eBay acted reasonably and has adequate procedures in place to effectively address counterfeiting," the AP reports.

Last month, a French court ordered eBay to pay more than $61 million to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, which charged it was hurt by sale of counterfeit bags, perfume, and clothes. EBay is appealing that ruling.

EBay says it spends tens of millions each year to combat counterfeiting. It runs a program that lets companies review listings and inform eBay of those they believe are for fake goods. The company also suspends and blocks users who have been found selling or are suspected of selling fake goods on eBay.

EBay says that in 2007, 50,000 sellers were thrown out for counterfeits, with 40,000 previously suspended sellers blocked from returning.
Source: jckonline

Jewelry Television responds to $5 million lawsuit over gem

A California woman has filed a $5 million lawsuit against Knoxville-based Jewelry Television claiming the shopping network knowingly sold treated gemstones as though they were "extremely rare" and "all natural."

Marliese Weed, who filed the suit on May 23 and is seeking class-action status, alleges Jewelry Television engaged in "unfair and deceptive conduct" when it sold a gem called andesine-labradorite as being a "highly-coveted, extremely rare, all natural, expensive gem that looks like an Oregon sunstone."

Weed alleges the stones were "nothing more than the mass-produced result of chemical facelifts in gemological beauty parlors" that Jewelry Television acquired for "pennies per carat and sold … for extraordinary profits."

In December 2007, Jewelry Television sold the gemstones for $149 per carat and later offered customers "a brief return period which was not publicized or advertised, was ill-administered, and did not even begin to correct the harm that was done," the lawsuit states.

Jewelry Television expressed disappointment that "one customer in California has filed litigation against us. This customer chose not to take advantage of our liberal return policies."

In a statement today, Jewelry Television said andesine-labradorite has been sold in the gem trade since 2002 as natural and untreated material.

"Lab reports from major laboratories have consistently confirmed these gemstones as natural and untreated. Jewelry Television, like other major retailers, relied upon the lab reports and general industry information," Jewelry Television said.

The company acknowledged that it had in January discovered one source for this gemstone that reported treating the stone.

"That information was promptly reported to our customers. As additional information has developed, JTV continued to keep customers informed. Much of the information in the lawsuit is totally incorrect and we are satisfied that Jewelry Television acted completely responsibly and the true facts will vindicate us," the company said.

In May, Jewelry Television, located at 10001 Kingston Pike, downsized its corporate headquarters eliminating more than 200 jobs companywide. Plans to build a new headquarters at a West Knoxville business park have been put on hold.
Source: knoxnews

Faraone Mennella files copyright lawsuit

RFMAS, Inc., which sells designer jewelry to upscale retail stores under the Faraone Mennella trademark has filed a $60 million copyright infringement lawsuit against Mimi So International and luxury conglomerate Richemont.

The suit, filed May 9 in the U.S. District Court of New York in Manhattan, names jewelry designer Mimi So; Mimi So International, Inc.; Richemont SA; Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA; Richemont North America; Richemont Holdings; and Richemont International, Ltd.

In the suit, RFMAS alleges that its Italian designers created a particular jewelry design, "Subject Works" and that the designs became well-known for their distinctive look, described in court papers as a "combination of distinctive design elements, including a unique arrangement of large, hand-twisted or apparently hand-twisted, non-uniform, open links in a loose pattern of two or three sizes that form a chain conveying a stylized and appealing sense of sophisticated freedom and motion."

The designs received extensive acclaim, including being named by Time Magazine on its list of "100 Most Influential Designs," and garnered sales to match the critical kudos, court papers said.

RFMAS says in court papers that Richemont approached the company about a possible acquisition and that meetings between the two parties included Mimi So and involved RFMAS sharing its trade secret information, including information on best-selling designs, top customers and marketing.

The suit claims that the parties entered into a confidentiality agreement, but that after the meetings Mimi So International began selling products that infringed on RFMAS' copyright and that the designs were produced at Richemont's manufacturing facility in Milan.
The suit alleges that the defendants have been profiting from "the blatant infringement" of plaintiff's copyrighted and trade dress, and that they breached confidentiality as well as an implied oral and written contract.

"Defendants have access to plaintiff's works and defendant's works are remarkably similar to plaintiff's and defendant's actions have caused plaintiff irreparable injury," the suit says.

In addition to the $60 million in compensatory damages and loss of profits, the suit also asks for an injunction that would prevent the defendants from importing, manufacturing and/or distributing the pieces alleged to have violated RFMAS' copyright.

Messages left at Mimi So International and Richemont were not immediately returned.
Source: nationaljewelernetwork

NY model can sue jewelry company anonymously over sexy video

A model who says she was duped into starring in a sizzling online ad has won a round in her suit against the diamond dealer who commissioned it.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich refused to scrap the suit against Szul Jewelry and said the 37-year-old woman who appeared in the "Rock Her World" can remain anonymous.

The woman, a model and elementary school teacher, wore a teddy in the ad and moaned with pleasure to the hard-grinding sounds of a guitar.

The model sued Szul in January, charging she never signed a release for use of the video and that the company duped her into appearing in a commercial spot that was just too hot.

She insisted she had auditioned for a "comedic" ad, and not one that bordered on porn.

"Unfortunately, for me, everyone who has seen it says it looks like cheap porn, which is not my style at all," the model emailed the video's producer, after the ad's debut.

The 35-second bump-and-grind ad - which earned its sexy star a $200 payday - was viewed close to 1 million times on YouTube before it was taken down from the video-sharing site.

The judge said the woman could remain annoymous because she has "has kept her identity confidential throughout and has complained of harassment, ridicule and embarrassment." Naming her could result in her dropping the case.

The model, who is identified in court papers as the host of a national cable network program, has accused Szul of trashing her wholesome image by posting the video clip on the Web.

Szul had countered that she knew exactly what she was getting in to. The company provided the court with the half-page script, which outlined how the action between a man in boxer shorts and a woman "in the sexiest nightgown imaginable" took place in a dimly lit bedroom.

The script called for her to drop her nightgown around her ankles, lay on a bed and huff and puff excitedly "as though close to having an orgasm."

"Once the Szul necklace is placed around her neck, 'she screams in climax,'" the script says.

Lawyers for the model and for Szul Jewelry did not immediately return calls.
Source: nydailynews

LID inventory bound for Bidz.com, others

A group of companies, including online jewelry auctioneer Bidz.com, submitted the winning bid on Wednesday for the assets of bankrupt diamond company LID Ltd.

The Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved
the sale earlier today.

LID Ltd. Chief Restructuring Officer Chris Ellis, a partner with investment banking and financial advisory firm Consensus Advisors, said Bidz.com, along with AV Jewelry, Fairlway Diamonds and Kiran Jewels Inc., bid $32.85 million for LID's jewelry and loose-diamond inventory.

The bid represented 47.4 percent of the inventory's value.

It also topped the nearly $27 million in stalking horse bids submitted prior to the auction: SimplexDiam and GBC Inc. together bid $16.25 million for LID's jewelry inventory, while Disons Gems Inc. bid $10.68 million for the loose-diamond inventory.

In the end, however, the competition for LID's assets proved fierce.

Ellis said more than a dozen companies from all over the world packed the New York law offices of Mayer Brown and Platt for the auction, held on Wednesday morning.

"Everybody was surprised, including me, that it was robust a process as it turned out to be," he said.
Source: nationaljewelernetwork

New state law targets lead in jewelry

Hipsters beware: That naval piercing or nose ring may be hazardous to your health.

In rare cases, seizures, organ failure and even death can occur.

That is the message from the California Department of Toxic Substance Control, which is enforcing a new state law that regulates lead in jewelry, especially piercing jewelry.

That law went into effect March 1.

"Body piercings may be particularly vulnerable to poisoning since lead can enter the bloodstream through the pierced areas," Maureen Gorsen, director of California's Department of Toxic Substances Control, said in a written statement.

To get the point across, officials from the department were at Zebra Tattoo & Body Piercing Shop on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley last week to spread the word that jewelry must have less than 10 percent lead as of March 1 and less than 6 percent by Aug. 30, 2009.

If piercing shops violate the new law, they can face fines of up to $2,500 a day for each piece in their possession.

Kerrie Naslund, 34, a senior piercer at Zebra for 16 years, said she is confident that her shop is lead-free because it gets most of its jewelry from American manufacturers who provide certificates showing the metals in piercing jewelry they buy.

California piercing shops that buy from oversees, where there is little or no lead regulation, might be in trouble, though.

"Once this story breaks, I'm sure some of the piercing studios are going to reconsider the good deals they have gotten on jewelry from oversees," Naslund said. "They're going to be a little nervous."

At Zebra, state employees showed off one of four new $40,000 X-ray machines that can detect lead in jewelry, and staff members at the shop gave a piercing demonstration. About 20 pieces of body-piercing jewelry from Zebra were tested, and none was found to contain detectable levels of lead.

The state is going after jewelry manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

The new law is an expansion of another law that went into effect Sept. 1 barring lead in children's jewelry. Children's jewelry must have less than 1.5 percent lead, because those 6 and younger are more susceptible to lead poisoning.

While regulators such as Michael Berriesford, the supervising investigator with the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, said he knows of no adults who have been poisoned, the Environmental Protection Agency reports some tragedies in children.

A 4-year-old Minnesota child died in 2006 after swallowing a lead-laden jewelry charm, which prompted a recall of 300,000 charm bracelets. And in 2004, 150 million pieces of toy jewelry sold in vending machines were recalled because of lead.

Berriesford said that state testing of children's jewelry since Sept. 1 found 18 percent to 20 percent was contaminated with high levels of lead. Given those numbers, he is assuming that adult jewelry is being sold with lead in it, too.

"Body-piercing jewelry may have lead in it; that's why we're here," Berriesford said. "A lot of the industry has been aware of it for years (and not sold it), but there may be some outliers."

Wickert Beasley of Intrinsic Precision Body Jewelry in San Francisco said that as long as consumers buy made-in-America body-piercing accessories, they should be safe.

"Domestically made jewelry is almost in every case made out of the best material, but there's been a flood of jewelry from oversees where labor costs are just a fraction of what they are here," and where standards are lower, he said.
Source: contracostatimes

N.Y. jewelry stores accused of discrimination

All that glitters is not gold in 1,300 jewelry stores nationwide where sexual discrimination awaits female employees, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday against the operator of the stores.

The lawsuit by current and former employees claimed that Sterling Jewelers Inc. practices a pattern of sex discrimination in the promotion and compensation of women and permits a work environment contaminated by unwanted sexual advances toward some employees.

The lawsuit said the company operates under at least 12 retail names including Kay Jewelers, Goodman Jewelers and Osterman Jewelers.

Sterling, the parent company, said it investigated the claims and found them to be without merit.

"We take the allegations raised in this lawsuit very seriously," it said. "We are confident that these charges do not reflect the culture of this company. Fairness, opportunity, integrity and respect are core values at Sterling."

The company said it did not believe the charges were valid and promised to defend "vigorously against whatever legal action arises."

The women said the company refused to publicize job openings and instead let managers select preferred employees in a "tap on the shoulder" system.

The lawsuit said Sterling has intentionally discriminated against women by maintaining a system for making promotion and compensation decisions that is excessively subjective and favored men over women.

The lawsuit alleged specific examples of discrimination faced by female employees, including Lisa McConnell, who worked at a Kay Jewelers store from July 2001 until August 2006.

The lawsuit said McConnell was told in October 2002 that her salary of $12 per hour as an assistant manager was $2 to $3 less per hour than similarly situated male assistant managers.

The lawsuit said she endured sexual harassment at the hands of a manager-in-training who commented on the anatomy of women who walked by the store and asked McConnell if she would find out if a woman who passed the store in a short skirt was wearing underwear.

The lawsuit, which asked to be designated to represent a class of all women who have faced discrimination at the stores, seeks policy changes and unspecified damages.
Source: usatoday

Oppenheimer calls U.S. subprime woes 'worry'

The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis is causing concern in the diamond industry due to the high volume of "lower-quality, cheaper diamonds" sold here, De Beers Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer said in a recent interview with Mining Weekly.

But, demand for higher-quality stones continues in the United States, unaffected by the turbulence in the housing market.

"America remains 50 percent of the diamond jewelry worldwide offtake and, in that 50 percent, America has a disproportionate element of the somewhat lower-quality, cheaper diamonds, so that's a real worry there," he told the South Africa-based publication. "The balance is the better-quality diamonds, which seem to be remaining in demand, and that's obviously helped by the very strong growing demand in Asia."

Overall, Oppenheimer said, the economic volatility worldwide "is not good for us."

He said the dramatic strengthening of the Canadian dollar has negatively impacted DeBeers' business in that country while, conversely, the weakening of the rand in South Africa has helped De Beers, which sells its diamonds in U.S. dollars.

In the same interview, De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) Managing Director David Noko said the company is working to negate the impact the power crisis in South Africa is having on De Beers' output.

A 10 percent impact on production is forecast, with DBCM budgeting production of 12.7 million carats in 2008, compared with 15 million in 2007. This lower estimate, Noko said, is due to the sale of some of DBCM's assets, not the power crisis.

Also, De Beers Group Managing Director Gareth Penny said the Diamond Trading Co. (DTC) continues forming local DTCs in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

A total of eight De Beers retail stores launched in 2007, pushing the total to 23 globally, and De Beers plans to double the number of stores in 2008.
Source: nationaljewelernetwork

Byeon Admits Jewelry Gifts in Shin-gate Trial

Former chief presidential policy secretary Byeon Yang-kyun admitted he gave jewelry worth tens of millions of won to his mistress Shin Jeong-ah, the disgraced curator at the heart of a fake-degree scandal. The admission came on his fourth trial on charges of influence peddling and bribery in connection with the scandal Monday. But Byeon said Shin had paid part of the costs with gift certificates. According to prosecutors, Byeon gave Shin a diamond ring, a luxury-brand watch, a necklace and a ring worth W47 million (US$1=W934) in total. Byeon said the jewelry was a return present for a painting Shin had given him.

The two were revealed to have frequently discussed what to do after Shin’s forgery of her academic credentials were revealed. Byeon admitted exchanging 63 phone calls and text messages with Shin between July 12 and 16, saying they communicated that way since they rarely met face-to-face. Shin secretly returned from Europe on July 12, shortly after the forgery was exposed and she was stripped of the art directorship at the Gwangju Biennale, Korea’s leading contemporary art event. Four days later she fled to the U.S.

Defending herself on the issue of expensive jewels she received from Byeon, Shin issued an emotional appeal for people not to denounce her “as a prostitute.” She added her relationship with Byeon had been “beautiful.” Byeon said the two went for romantic walks in Mt. Namsan.
Source: chosun