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Aquazzura Settles Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Ivanka Trump

The lawsuit, filed in 2016, said Trump copied the design of the Italian brand's $785 "Wild Thing" shoe for her own discount "Hettie" model, which sold for $130.
Ivanka Trump | Source: Shutterstock
By
  • Reuters

UPDATE: According to a statement received by BoF on Saturday November 18, 2017, the Aquazzura lawsuit against Ivanka Trump was settled out of court: "Aquazzura Italia SRL, Ivanka Trump Collection LLC and Marc Fisher Holdings LLC today jointly announce that they have agreed to settle their dispute amicably. The terms of the settlement are confidential. The parties are pleased to have been able to resolve the matter out of court to their mutual satisfaction."

NEW YORK, United States — Italian shoemaker Aquazzura Italia SRL has dismissed its lawsuit accusing Ivanka Trump of stealing the design of its "Wild Thing" stiletto-heeled shoe for her own, less-expensive "Hettie" model.

Aquazzura, Trump and co-defendant Marc Fisher Holdings, which partnered in 2010 with the daughter of the now US President Donald Trump to sell her shoes, agreed to dismiss all claims and counterclaims, according to a filing on Friday with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

It was unclear from the filing whether the case had been settled. Lawyers for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Aquazzura has called the Hettie shoe "virtually an exact copy" of the Wild Thing, which sells for $785 and has been worn by what it called "celebrities and 'It' girls" like model Kendall Jenner and singer Solange Knowles.

The Hettie has cost roughly one-sixth as much, and Aquazzura had said the defendants' "flagrant copying" would confuse and siphon away the Florence-based company's customers.

Ivanka Trump and Marc Fisher denied infringing Aquazzura's rights. They had sought to declare unenforceable an Aquazzura design patent for a pom-pom and tassels on the Wild Thing.

The case is Aquazzura Italia SR v Trump et al, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 16-04782.

By Jonathan Stempel; editor: Alistair Bell.

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