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Texas designer sues Urban Outfitters for copying
Isabel Borczuch, owner of the Isobel + Ezra jewelry brand, has filed a lawsuit against the retailer for allegedly ripping off a pair of her stud earrings after requesting samples from her.
These are the “Herkimer” studs, which designer Isabel Borczuch alleges Urban Outfitters copied and sold in store after requesting samples from her.
Houston--Isabel Borczuch, the designer behind the Isobel + Ezra jewelry brand, has filed a lawsuit against Urban Outfitters in Texas for allegedly ripping off a pair of her stud earrings after requesting samples from her.
According to a lawsuit filed in the Houston division of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas earlier this month, an assistant buyer from Urban Outfitters contacted Borczuch in August 2014 saying that they wanted to consider some of her products for their spring lineup.
The designer responded to the request with line sheets, one of which included the heading “isobel+ezra hold exclusive copyright to all designs,” the lawsuit states. The retailer also requested and received a number of samples, including the “Herkimer” studs.
After that, according to the lawsuit, an associate of the designer reached out to Urban Outfitters three different times --in November, January, and again in February--to ask if they were planning on making a purchase and also to request that the retailer return the samples.
Though Urban Outfitters said that it already had sent them back, the designer maintains that she still has not received them.
In May, Borczuch went into an Urban Outfitters store in Houston, where she saw a pair of studs that look almost identical to the “Herkimer” samples she sent to the company.
Neither Urban Outfitters nor Borczuch responded to a request for comment on the lawsuit by press time.
The designer is seeking unspecified monetary damages plus profits attributable to the copyright infringements in the case and, since filing the lawsuit, has applied to register her Herkimer design with the U.S. Copyright Office.
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