Design Art and Photography

October 08, 2008

New York—A federal judge has dismissed the trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Van Cleef and Arpels Inc. last year against Mouawad USA Inc. and Heidi Klum GmbH over a line of jewelry bearing the supermodel’s name.

According to documents filed on Saturday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Shira A. Scheindlin ordered the case dismissed without prejudice after the two jewelry houses opted “to settle the controversy between them without any admission of liability.”

A dismissal without prejudice means the suit could be brought again in the future.

No further details of the settlement were available on Wednesday.

Van Cleef filed suit against Mouawad and Klum, who is famous both on the runway and as host of the fashion-design reality show Project Runway, in December 2007.

The suit claimed that the line of jewelry bearing Klum’s name copied the vintage clover design featured in Van Cleef’s “Alhambra” jewelry line.

Van Cleef and Arpels is owned by luxury goods group Richemont.