Lawsuit of the Day: Did Victoria's Secret Steal a Paralegal's Secret?
The company that has a patent on trademarked "Very Sexy" has been hit with a lawsuit accusing it of stealing a bra design. A Long Island paralegal claims that she came up with the original design for the Very Sexy 100-Way Convertible Bra, and has a patent to prove it:
The bra is, according to the lawsuit, the intellectual creation of Katerina Plew, a Long Island paralegal, who registered it under United States Patent No. 6,733,362 in May 2004. Ms. Plew, who is 38, is now contending that Victoria’s Secret stole, then mass-produced, her specialized design.“The first time I thought of it I was getting ready for a christening,” Ms. Plew said in a telephone interview from her home in Selden, N.Y. “It was an idea that just popped into my head in — don’t know — like March of ’99.”
The bra, with its various hooks and eyelets, is something like the Micronaut of the undergarment world. By a complicated series of maneuvers, it can be worn in as many as 100 different ways.
What kind of outfit was she wearing to that christening?
Plew claims she had a meeting scheduled with Victoria's Secret designers in 2006, but that the appointment was canceled at the last minute.
Victoria's Secret, have you fallen so low as to steal your designs? It's time to come up with some better stuff -- VS merchandise has been subpar in the last few years. But that's a topic for a different blog.
Is Victoria’s Secret a Stolen Bra Design? [City Room / New York Times]
Complaint: Plew v. Limited Brands, Inc. [PDF]
(34) 
She probably had a shitty patent lawyer that drafted overly-narrow claims that VS designed around. People don't realize that you get what you pay for in the world of patent prosecution.
Oh, and FIRST!
Wait- she invented it in '99 and filed the application in 2002? You have to file within a year. Uh oh.
Why do you have to file within a year?
10:07: I think you only have to file within a year if you submitted a provisional patent application and/or you publicized or offered the invention for sale. Doesn't seem like the plaintiff did either.
I just finally figured out how to get the regular one off with one hand around her...now what am i supposed to do
she thought of it in '99 - that's not invention - need to reduce the idea to practice - that can take time.
I'm glad Lat didn't write this post.
10:12 much more right than 10:22 (although 10:22 may be relevant in other contexts, e.g., if VS invented some time between '99 and '02)
Who needs to fasten a bra like Houdini? How about they invent a strapless bra that can hold something over a B cup? Then I'll be impressed.
The "FIRST!" guy is probably right. In fact, I'd give good odds that Ms. Plew wrote this patent application herself, consulting an outdated patent-it-yourself manual. The text of the application contains many modern day no-no's, that even mildly competent patent drafters avoid. (To be sure, Ms. Plew seems to have done a decent job following the directions. It's just that the directions were crappy.)
The independent claim is a Jepson claim, which hardly is ever used in the U.S. any more.
And, there's no attorney/agent information on file at the USPTO.
But if a registered attorney or agent DID draft this patent... well... he must be a real boob.
Don't taze me bra!
How about you don't complain about the problems associated with having more than a B cup?
Non-patent lawyers are such idiots. They think they can intelligently comment about anything including patents. What they don't understand is that patent lawyers have specialized technical degrees and have passed a special additional bar exam.
So if you are not a patent lawyer, and the discussion involves patents, feel free to keep your mouths shut.
IF YOU'RE NOT A PATENT LAWYER WITH A DRIED OUT WOMB YOU HAVE NO RIGHT COMMENTING ON THIS THREAD!!
You can't patent "Very Sexy". They have a trademark on the term.
11:19 - OK, but do you have anything substantive to add other than protecting your little clique?
Also, not all patent lawyers have technical degrees and/or take the patent bar.
i hope she wins
@1057: Gravity is sometimes pretty difficult to design around. But when I come up with my anti-grav device, you will be the first to know.
11:28 - If you are a litigator who works in the patent area without a patent bar registration number, you are an IP litigator. You are not a patent lawyer.
Patent attorney here...
11:28(2) you are correct. It is a common myth that you MUST have a science degree and you MUST take the patent bar to be a patent attorney. You don't need a technical degree per se, just sufficient technical background. Most people do satisfy that requirement with a technical degree, though. You also don't need to take the patent bar to be admitted, as long as you satisfy other experience requirements. This is also uncommon.
10:59 is also correct. Jepson claims are bad ideas, and easy to design around.
VS just needs to show invention prior to the filing date. Then Plew will have to show prior invention w/ diligence. If VS can show invention more than one year prior to filing date, then no patent for Plew.
This reeks of design around. The VS patent attorneys looked at her patent, saw it was written by an amateur (I don't mean that in a degrading way) with a Jepson claim, and they created a non-infringing knock-off.
And finally, 11:28(1), you can't patent VERY SEXY, because frankly I myself am an anticipatory piece of prior art in that field.
12:00 - the fact that you identify yourself as a patent attorney creates a rebuttable presumption that you do not qualify as anticipatory prior art in the field of "VERY SEXY"
Breaking News: McCain just selected Mitt Romney as VP candidate. This basically ensures a republican victory in nov.
Patent lawyers are no better or worse looking than anyone else. They are more intelligent and better rounded though.
very disappointed everyone's talking patent law. this is about boobs, man. boobs!
12:17 aka troll : your source?
which firm is representing Victoria Secret / Limited Brands? i want to be sure i have it at the top of my list of lateral choices.
I just want to say I love this bra.
Kash, I love your dirty little news stories. Next time you should demo the product for us.
If they are making it overseas, is it not an ITC violation?
VS now has a history. THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME! I received a patent in 2006, contacted Victoria Secret, presented my idea via email in January of 2007 (they said they were not interested) however, Victoria’s Secret introduced the "World's First Full-Coverage Uplift Bra" in their store at the The Grove in Los Angeles on August 1st. This is my bra; I called it the "Right" bra; they call it the "It" bra. If you do a patent search of full coverage uplift bra, one patent and one patent only comes up - Mine.
She did not patent it as Very Sexy; that is what VS calls it. Even if it was an average patent, she had the idea and gave it to them. They did the wrong thing. They would not be making the money they are without the idea. I hope she wins and wins big. They are a greedy company.
I am sure they are making it overseas but marketing and selling in the states. I would think that would still infringe on the patent.
any updates on this case?
I work at VS and though this bra was very popular, we don't carry it anymore. Maybe this is why!