Latest Designer Label: ‘Malicious’
A brother and sister who operated a retail store on the Santee Alley bargain strip in the Fashion District of Downtown say they were falsely accused of dealing in counterfeit merchandise and forced out of business by “malicious prosecution” pressed by representative of the Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior fashion labels.
George and Marijeanne Antounian recently filed a lawsuit against the two Paris, France-based luxury brand giants and their attorneys. The Antounians claim that a prior suit that the companies filed against them was itself unlawful.
A federal court eventally dismissed the lawsuit against the Antounians and awarded them approximately $70,000 in lawyer’s fees. That covered about half of what they spent on legal representation in fighting the case, according to a lawyer representing them in their suit against the luxury brands.
The Antounians are seeking unspecified damages from the companies in a malicious prosecution suit alleging that representatives of Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, and their respective lawyers, knew that allegations of copyright and trademark infringement against them were not true but nevertheless continued with the litigation.
The cost of the defending against the charges eventually forced the Antounian’s to close their Bijou Palace shop on the 1100 block of Santee Alley, according to the couple, who claim they were also forced to liquidate their inventory, a process that typically involves selling off merchandise at very low prices.
The Antounian’s malicious prosecution lawsuit claims that representatives of the two giant luxury labels hired a private investigation company called Investigative Consultants in 2005 to determine whether stores on Santee Alley were selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior wallets, purses, and other goods. An investigation of nearly two years led to the firm to wrongfully conclude that the Antounians had sold fake Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior products, according to the lawsuit. The Antounians claim that a video used in the investigation showed such counterfeit transactions occurring at adjacent stores and on the pathway of Santee Alley itself, but not at Bijou Palace.
“The Antounians’ store sold only costume jewelry and was not in the business of selling purses and wallets,” said Sean Macias, managing partner of Macias Counsel, Inc. in Glendale, and the lead attorney representing the Antounians.
William Salle, co-counsel for the Antounians, said that a member of the investigation team, Arianna Ortiz, admitted she provided false testimony in identifying Bijou Palace as one of the stores selling knockoff products.
“Ortiz alerted Kris Buckner, president of Investigative Consultants, and lead counsel Janine Garguilo for Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, of the errors in the investigation reports months before trial, but legal action still proceeded against the Antounians,” according to Salle.
The Antouians lawsuit also alleges that during a trial on accusations against them, in July 2007, Buckner testified that he never saw handbags, wallets, or sunglasses—or any Louis Vuitton or Christian Dior items—for sale at Bijou Palace.
“These were the same items that the Antounians and Bijou Palace were to have allegedly sold,” said Salle.
Macias said that efforts to combat counterfeiting of merchandise are understandable, but contended that his clients were wrongly caught up in the efforts.
“Maybe they wanted to send a message to would-be counterfeiters that they mean business,” Macias said. “Instead, Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior succeeded only in destroying an innocent small business.”
Representatives of Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior could not be reached for comment, as of presstime.
Clothing, accessories and other merchandise is considered counterfeit if it carries a trademark—often a label or brand—without permission. CDs and DVDs that contain music or movies that have been reproduced without permission are also considered counterfeit. Counterfeits differ from “knockoffs,” a common term to describe clothing or other items that mimic popular designs or fashions but do not attempt to use a label, brand or trademark without permission.
Counterfeiting is a widespread crime in Los Angeles, where goods carrying fake brands can be found for sale on the street or in shops in many locations, including Downtown and surrounding districts.
Counterfeit merchandise costs Los Angeles County an estimated $483 million in lost tax revenue each year, according to local officials. The practice has other costs, too, cutting into revenue and employment at legitimate design and manufacturing businesses, retailers, and the film and music recording industries. Representatives of the film and music industries claim that counterfeiting costs legitimate companies hundreds of million of dollars in revenue and cuts thousands of jobs from their workforces in the Los Angeles area.
Many big designer labels and representatives of the music and film industries often fund their own investigations into counterfeiting in the Downtown area and other locales. The investigators typically turn matters over to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) which in some cases uses the information to obtain search warrants and conduct raids, often with the help of security guards from the Fashion District Business Improvement District (BID), a private association of property owners in the area.
