Hasta La Ideas

Another day, another high-profile design theft accusation. This time, it’s Coach vs. Kmart. According to Bloomberg, the luxury handbag company has called out the discount retailer for directly copying its Op Art design (which uses Coach’s familiar big “C” pattern) and re-purposing it on pieces of luggage available at their outlets (we’re guessing that the design copy in question is from their Treviso Hampton line). The struggle will play out in court soon, with the suit having been filed late Thursday. Here’s the official message:

“The luggage set was examined by Coach and found to be counterfeit merchandise,” New York-based Coach says in the complaint. “The luggage set bears on its exterior a design that is confusingly similar to the Coach Op Art trademark and copyright.”

The suit seeks unspecified damages and an order barring Kmart from infringing Coach trademarks.

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