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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.