The legal battle over copyright and trademark infringement between Canadian jewellery designer and manufacturer JewelPops and two U.S. companies has been settled.
“We believe this is a fair settlement of our dispute, and that the interests of JewelPops and our more than 1000 independent dealers and sales representatives who sell our product were successfully defended,” said company founder and president Robert Smith.
Last September, JewelPops filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging jewellery manufacturer Royal Chain and some of its executives had intentionally infringed copyrights and trade dress they own by copying more than 100 Kameleon collection designs. The allegations pertained to Royal Chain’s silver and magnetic ‘Karisma’ line. A month later, it filed a similar suit against retailer Helzberg Diamonds.
“This agreement will help eliminate confusion among customers and allow Kameleon to compete with Karisma based on the originality of its design and the overall quality of the product,” Smith said.
The details of the settlement are confidential.
Royal Chain president Paul Maroof said he was pleased with the outcome.
“We welcome the ability to compete with the Kameleon line, and to allow consumers more choices in interchangeable jewellery,” he added.
Both companies say they will continue to enforce their respective intellectual property rights including patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
