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| Aire files 'Red Gold' lawsuit vs. top watch brands | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10th, 2010 09:43 am |
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1st Post |
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Johnny P Advisor 
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http://www.nationaljewelernetwork.com/nj/watches/article_detail?id=20431 Los Angeles—Jewelry and watch designer Chris Aire is suing a handful of watch companies for trademark infringement relating to the amber-hued gold alloy he claims his company created, trademarked and branded as "Red Gold." Attorneys for the Los Angeles-based designer filed the lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, charging the brands with unfair competition and false description, in addition to trademark infringement. Aire is president of Solid 21 Inc., the Nevada corporation that owns Chris Aire Fine Jewelry & Timepieces. The watch brands named in the lawsuit are: Rolex; LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton on behalf of Hublot and Louis Vuitton; Breitling; Richemont International SA on behalf of Baume & Mercier, International Watch Company and Montblanc; Ulysse Nardin Inc.; Montres Corum Sàrl; The Swatch Group on behalf of Blancpain and Omega; Franck Muller; Chopard; Makur Design Inc.; Graham-London; Kobold Watch Company LLC; Piere Kunz USA Inc.; Ebel and Bulgari on behalf of Gerald Genta, as well as a number of yet-unidentified defendants. Rolex, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and The Swatch Group did not respond to request for comment on the lawsuit. According to court papers, Solid 21 is the owner of the "registered and incontestable trademark Red Gold for, inter alia, fine jewelry and watches made from a special alloying of gold with a distinct color made into fine jewelry in connection with the manufacture, marketing and advertising of watches, necklaces, bracelets, rings, anklets, cuff links, ornamental hair pins, belt buckles of precious metal, tie clips and pegs and earrings known as 'Red Gold.'" Over the years, Solid 21 has spent considerable sums of money branding Red Gold, including via direct advertising, "aggressive" public relations efforts and product placements, court papers state. These efforts include hosting several all-jewelry runway shows in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Lagos, Nigeria, London and Las Vegas. In addition, Solid 21 has advertised Red Gold in print and on television, promoted it on various awards shows and has had celebrity clients don the pieces in music videos and movies. "As a result of these efforts and continuous use, the Red Gold mark has become famous and associated with the fine jewelry designed, manufactured, marketed and advertised by Solid 21," court papers state. The lawsuit alleges that the brands named in the suit sold, marketed and advertised fine jewelry using the Red Gold mark and also allowed third parties to promote their lines of fine jewelry using Red Gold. "Defendants are national and international watch manufacturers," court documents state. "Solid 21 is informed and believes and on this basis alleges that defendants utilized the Red Gold mark in their marketing, advertising and sales of their product line of fine jewelry with full knowledge of Solid 21 and Solid 21's use of and prior rights in the Red Gold mark with respect to the manufacture, marketing, advertising and sale of fine jewelry, or in the alternative, in negligent disregard for Solid 21's trademark." In addition, in the suit, Aire alleges that "in order to capture the goodwill created by Solid 21's use of the gold alloy color it invented," the defendants in the case began manufacturing, developing and marketing fine jewelry and watch products using gold treated to create a hue similar to the color created by Solid 21. "Defendants have used gold with this hue, which does not exist in gold's natural state, but must be formulated, in order to create confusion in the marketplace and to benefit from its association with luxury and finely made products—a meaning associated with Solid 21 and Red Gold," court documents state. Aire is seeking equitable and injunctive relief, as well as compensatory and monetary damages, costs and disbursements in the case.
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10th, 2010 10:11 am |
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2nd Post |
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Skipdawg 3T WIS 
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Rather interesting.
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10th, 2010 10:45 am |
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3rd Post |
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oagaspar Site Founder 
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what?...Invicta wasn't named! http://www.chrisaire.com/
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10th, 2010 11:38 am |
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4th Post |
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Hammerfjord Moderator 
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Seems like others been attracted by the success of this "Red-gold" on the luxury market and decided to use this popularity to make better profits... The question is: Would they have started to make watche-cases in "Red-gold" if they would have been the very firsts on this new market? Maybe not: They just prefer to come there when success is allready actual... Why should they work hard and spend huge loads of money to patent it and make it popular? It's easyer to let others to take the financial risks, specialy when the luxury market get cold during the crise... Well: It's the same old story about patented products who suddenly become popular on the world-market. Everybody wants a piece of the cake then.
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10th, 2010 11:54 am |
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5th Post |
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oagaspar Site Founder
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I believe what will come out in the counter actions from those named in the suit is that they use a different formula as most of the watch companies use either "Rose Gold" or "Pink Gold" that has been around for some time being used in watch cases......
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10th, 2010 12:20 pm |
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6th Post |
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Hammerfjord Moderator
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Maybe so, maybe not Oscar, but they seems to have used the name Red-Gold to promote them alloy... Also if the unregistered alloy is extremely close in composition and blend's percentage to the one who is registered, it can certainly be seen as a copy. To avoid a confusion, the alloy should be different and registered as something on it's own. It don't look like they attack other patents there. I don't think that this lawsuit is only based on the similar color of the gold. Don't you think so?
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10th, 2010 12:34 pm |
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7th Post |
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oagaspar Site Founder
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Pink Gold has been used in watches way before Chris Aire/Solid21 was born and I would believe in order to win this lawsuit a composite break-down must be done on the watches/companies in question to prove it is the exact formula Solid 21 claims to be their patented "Red Gold"...maybe one of the engineers or metallurgists on the forum can chime in...
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10th, 2010 12:39 pm |
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8th Post |
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Janner 3T WIS 
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Don't see how mixing gold and probably copper together can be classed as an invention.
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10th, 2010 01:01 pm |
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9th Post |
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Hammerfjord Moderator
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oagaspar wrote:Pink Gold has been used in watches way before Chris Aire/Solid21 was born and I would believe in order to win this lawsuit a composite break-down must be done on the watches/companies in question to prove it is the exact formula Solid 21 claims to be their patented "Red Gold"...maybe one of the engineers or metallurgists on the forum can chime in... I know about the pink gold: This isn't new at all. I saw on Rolex's side that they use the red gold and also Everose terms but only Aire registered this red-gold appellation: Wierd enough. You may be right Oscar: They may just argue on the name and appellation at the end. More to read here for better understanding:http://fashionentlaw.com/fashion-law/hollywood-jeweler-chris-aire-sues-louis-vuitton-rolex-swatch-et-al-for-trademark-infringement/
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10th, 2010 01:43 pm |
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10th Post |
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oagaspar Site Founder
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it would be interesting to know if he uses eta movements in his watches and what Swatch considers Chris Aire watches to be....possibly a third party interest which would cut him off of eta movements in the future?...
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10th, 2010 01:48 pm |
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11th Post |
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Hammerfjord Moderator
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Well, that we wins or looses, eitherways, he will not have made friends there...
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| Posted: Thu Nov 11th, 2010 07:54 am |
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12th Post |
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bigrustypig 3T WIS 
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I don't think the case will prosper. None of the companies mentioned ever used the term Red Gold in the form of a proper noun that would allude to Solid 21. These companies use red gold rather as an adjective. I am darned sure Rolex uses the word "rose gold" and so does Patek and for sure even JLC. Rolex has patented Rolesor and Erachrom and note that nobody but nobody in the industry except Rolex itself uses the terms. I still have to remember a print ad or website of these brands use Red Gold to describe their rose gold or even remotely, red gold watches. What's next? A suit for using White Gold? Note...it's a proper noun.
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