Metallica Sue Perfume Maker
Metallica has turned their litigious guns on French perfume maker Guerlain, demanding that the century-old company rename “Metallica,” its recently released “Special Edition” fragrance.
The band filed suit on Friday (Dec. 8) in the California Western Division of the U.S. District Court, the same one in which they filed suit against Victoria Secret, after the lingerie company manufactured a lip pencil also dubbed “Metallica” (Victoria’s Secret settled with the band in January).
The vanilla-based scent, which is manufactured as a limited edition, has been in stores for the past two months and retails for $175 for eight ounces. According to Metallica’s lawyer, Jill Pietrini, the band decided to take legal action after a letter (sent to the perfume company and its retailers Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, all named in the suit) insisting the company rename the product was ignored. “We sent a demand letter and haven’t reached a resolution, so we had to sue,” said Pietrini. “They are advertising the perfume on Web sites and on playbills in New York and we just can’t have that.”
According to Pietrini, the band is suing for trademark infringement, false designation of origin, dilution, unfair competition and injury to business reputation — causing possible confusion in buyers who may believe that the band has sanctioned the product.