Jewelry Designer Steven Shein Filed a Copyright and Trade Dress Infringement Lawsuit In Los Angeles Federal Court

Los Angeles, CA – Attorneys for jewelry designer Steven Shein filed a copyright and trade dress infringement lawsuit against Delia’s, Inc. at the Federal District Court in Los Angeles. In 2003, after paying his own way through design school, Steven Shein began designing and selling jewelry. Plaintiff’s jewelry designs have been sold at the Museum of Contemporary Art and through high-end boutiques such as Kitson and Fred Segal. In 2006, Plaintiff authored a jewelry design entitled “The Red Flat Laminate Ice Cream” which was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.

The complaint alleges that “subsequent to Plaintiff’s registration of the Subject Design, Plaintiff’s investigation into the unlawful use of his proprietary designs revealed that Delia’s was purchasing, distributing and selling for profit, jewelry which infringed the Subject Design.” Plaintiff sent a cease and desist letter to the defendant requesting its sales figures of the allegedly infringing jewelry, but the defendant allegedly refused to stop the sales or provide the information. The case is titled Steven Shein v. Delia’s, Inc., CV 08-07291 SJO (C.D. Cal. 2008).

Read a jewelry patent attorney‘s more detailed article on how to protect jewelry through both design patents and utility patents when copyright protection is unavailable.