from Blabbermouth.net.....
Former PRECIOUS METAL Guitarist Sues JESSICA SIMPSON For Copyright Infringement - Feb. 9, 2006
Mara Fox, former guitarist of the '80s all-female hard rock band PRECIOUS METAL - more information - and Love Potion Perfume founder, has filed a lawsuit against "Clean" Perfume creator and Dessert Beauty founder Randi Shinder, and business partners celebrity Jessica Simpson and Sephora Cosmetics, alleging trademark infringement regarding Dessert Beauty's use of the name "Love Potion" for at least two of Dessert's products, fully named "Jessica Simpson's Deliciously Kissable Love Potion Fragrance", and "Jessica Simpson's Belly Button Love Potion", but more often referred to in their press releases, promotional material, and advertising as simply "Love Potion Fragrance", "Dessert Love Potion" and "Belly Button Love Potion".
According to a press release, Mara Fox has owned and maintained the Love Potion Perfume registered trademark since 1995, and the trademark attained incontestable status in the year 2000. Fox has engaged in uninterrupted sales of her product since 1989 via a retail location she operated in Venice Beach, CA, retail locations around the country, and via her website, www.LovePotionPerfume.com.
Simpson, Shinder and company, were first apprised of the alleged infringement on April 16, 2004, two days following Dessert's official product launch.
Fox's suit claims that she "does not have sufficient funds to repair the damage caused by Defendant's infringement and advertising campaign", and asks for a monetary award for a corrective advertising campaign, along with damages and legal fees.
Fox states that in the first month following Dessert's launch, her sales were reduced by 96 percent. The following month, they were down 97 percent. "Since then I've recovered by about one-third", says Fox, "but as long as they continue to spend the kind of money they've been spending to bury me, it's not likely to get much better than that. Imagine what your life would be like if your income suddenly dropped by 97 percent. Add that to the frustration of knowing that what they're doing is both illegal and unethical."
More details in the full press release located
HERE
