NEW YORK — Fendi Adele, Srl, Fendi Srl and Fendi North America filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against 546332 BC Ltd., which does business as Colton International, and Howard Colton in Manhattan federal court on Sept. 14. According to court documents, Fendi alleged that Colton International sold through its Web site handbags, shoulder bags, purses, wallets and key chains that imitate its designs and bear counterfeits or copies of its trademarks. A statement on the Web site states that all goods sold through it are “new and 100 percent authentic.” Colton could not be reached for comment. In its complaint, Fendi asked that Colton International and its officers be restrained from selling items that infringe on its trademarks and for financial damages. In addition, Fendi asked Colton to supply lists of individuals it bought the allegedly infringing bags from and of consumers who purchased the items from them.
Steve Madden Ltd. filed a lawsuit against Dolce Vita Footwear Inc. and two shareholders, Van Lamprou and Nick Lucio, for alleged unfair competition, unjust enrichment, converting designs for their own use, civil conspiracy, trade disparagement, fraud and violation of federal intellectual property rights law. According to court documents, Dolce Vita manufactured footwear for Steve Madden in 2004. Steve Madden charges that at some point after that, Dolce Vita started selling footwear to its competitors as well as Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Urban Outfitters, ShopBop and Zappos that were allegedly similar to Steve Madden designs, according to the documents. Steve Madden asked for unspecified financial damages.
“The complaint filed by Steve Madden Ltd. is entirely frivolous and we will vigorously contest it. In fact, it is Steve Madden that owes Dolce Vita millions of dollars for unpaid bills among other things, and Dolce Vita plans to file counterclaims against Steve Madden in short order,” said Jerome C. Katz, partner, Chadbourne & Parke. Katz represents Dolce Vita, Van Lamprou and Nick Lucio.
Two defendants were sentenced on Aug. 25 to more than seven years in prison following their conviction in June in a major counterfeiting lawsuit in Florida, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida. Brands named in the indictment, filed in the spring, included Louis Vuitton Malletier, Oakley, Prada, Rolex Watch USA, Cartier USA, Gucci America, Nike and Coach. As reported in WWD in June, the defendants were convicted of conspiracy, trafficking and importing counterfeit goods. Ji Wu Chen received a sentence of 97 months in federal prison, and Meihua Li was sentenced to 87 months.