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A’lor International Ltd., dba Charriol USA, is suing sixteen defendants for manufacturing and selling numerous jewelry designs incorporating a nautical cable motif that allegedly infringe Charriol’s copyrights and trade dress. Charriol claims that it has been designing unique jewelry designs…

A’lor International Ltd., dba Charriol USA, is suing sixteen defendants for manufacturing and selling numerous jewelry designs incorporating a nautical cable motif that allegedly infringe Charriol’s copyrights and trade dress. Charriol claims that it has been designing unique jewelry designs for decades, which have either been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office or are pending registration. To see Charriol’s designs and allegedly infringing products, click here. Through many years of sales, advertising, and media coverage, Charriol alleges that the cable motif has become its trade dress, meaning that the jewelry’s visual appearance functions as a trademark and consumers associate the appearance with the source of the jewelry. Charriol also asserts a breach of implied contract against four defendants that received samples of the jewelry and agreed to only use the designs if they compensated Charriol.

Charriol’s cable jewelry designs are reminiscent of David Yurman’s twisted cable design http://www.davidyurman.com/shoponline/product.aspx?itemid=Z3040&folderid=/gifts/cablekids&keyword=cable. Indeed, Yurman has filed numerous lawsuits for infringement of his copyrights and trade dress in the twisted cable jewelry design. In Yurman Design, Inc. v. PAJ, Inc., the defendant appealed the jury’s verdict awarding Yurman damages for PAJ’s infringement of Yurman’s copyrights and trade dress. The Second Circuit affirmed the finding of copyright infringement despite the use of cable designs by others in the jewelry industry because “the originality in Yurman’s four designs inheres in the ways Yurman has recast and arranged those constituent [preexisting] elements. We have carefully reviewed the cable jewelry produced by third parties that PAJ submitted to the jury, and cannot conclude that any of Yurman’s four combinations are nonoriginal as a matter of law.” The appellate court, however, reversed Yurman’s trade dress victory because his definition of the trade dress as “the artistic combination of cable [jewelry] with other elements” was overbroad or generic:

Yurman’s inability to articulate its trade dress at a lower level of generality is not altogether surprising, given (1) that there are 18 different Yurman pieces in the product line it seeks to protect (eight rings, seven bracelets, and three pairs of earrings), four of which the jury found to be separately copyrightable; and (2) Yurman’s concession that the pieces are composed exclusively of elements commonly used in the jewelry industry. A unique combination of elements may make a dress distinctive, but “the fact that a trade dress is composed entirely of commonly used or functional elements might suggest that the dress should be regarded as unprotectible or ‘generic,’ to avoid tying up a product or marketing idea.”

Charriol defines its trade dress as “interwoven nautical cable threads; twisted stainless steel components; 1.0, 1.2, 1.5, 1.6, 5.5, 3.0, and 6.0 millimeter cable composition; electro-polished juxtaposed multi-strand cable threading; treated soft-textured components; poly/physical vapor deposition-treated design elements.” Assuming that it does not suffer Yurman’s overbroad or generic definition of its trade dress, it will be interesting to see how Charriol will argue that its cable jewelry design trade dress has been substantially exclusive in light of Yurman’s similar cable jewelry design.

The case is A’lor International, Ltd. v. Tappers Fine Jewelry, Inc., CV12-02215 RGK (C.D. Cal. 2012).

The jewelry maker uses innovative materials such as molten metals and Lucite in his designs. Now he’s planning a higher-end line in sterling silver and gold.

The jewelry maker uses innovative materials such as molten metals and Lucite in his designs. Now he’s planning a higher-end line in sterling silver and gold.

Filed under: Jewelry, Holiday Guides
Giving jewelry as gifts for the holidays is something we highly encourage at Luxist. We love all that sparkles. One of our favorite regular features is jewelry design — we love to showcase the up-and-comers who aren’t yet as famous as, say, Tiffany and Harry Winston. Still, finding the right designer with the right price range for you can be difficult, as there’s a sea of new designers every year to sift through. Here’s our guide to the best of the best under-the-radar jewelry designers whose collections we recommend for the 2010 holidays. Each designer has fresh, enchanting pieces with that timeless je ne sais qoui which will last a lifetime.

The Luxist Top Ten Up and Coming Jewelry Designers for the Holidays 2010

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Filed under: Apparel, Handbags, Jewelry, Holiday Guides, Luxury Shopping
Moms are the glue that holds the world together. They work hard all year to keep us happy and healthy, sacrifice their own well-being for ours on a regular basis, and just generally smooth over the rough edges of life to make it all a little more bearable. Celebrate your mom this holiday season and show her how much you love and appreciate her with one of our luxe and pampered holiday gift ideas.

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