Heidi Klum Forced to Shutter Jewelry Line. Partner Gives StyleList His Take

Posted Aug 12th 2009 at 1:10PM by Katie Hintz-Zambrano (Subscribe to Katie Hintz-Zambrano's posts)

Heidi Klum wearing her own clover design earringst. Photo: Getty Images

Stunning Project Runway host and soon-to-be mother of four, is getting out of the jewelry making business due to a lawsuit filed by luxury bauble house Van Cleef & Arpels, as first reported in the Los Angeles Times.

While Klum is disappointed at the failed venture, she seems to think it could have been prevented. "Unfortunately, I did have a partner who ... maybe wasn't as knowledgeable in terms of setting up a business," she said, perhaps pointing a finger at Mouawad.

Meanwhile, designer Pascal Mouawad, who's now collaborating with Kelly Bensimon, tells StyleList exclusively, "Heidi and I collaborated together for five years on designing, marketing and distributing a jewelry collection to carry her name. Recently, Heidi decided that she no longer wanted to design jewelry and instead would pursue other goals."

"I worked five years very hard on [the line] ... which I loved doing" the "Project Runway" host tells the Los Angeles Times of her Heidi Klum Collection, which was a collaboration with jewelry giant Mouawad.

"But we stopped because we had a lawsuit with Van Cleef & Arpels. They wanted to have the clover, even though our designs had never matched. I don't know how may designs I had done in five years, maybe 800 different designs -- but they just wanted to own the clover motif.

So they went after everyone who does that -- Louis Vuitton! -- they said, 'We own the clover.' And I was like, 'Then who's the person with the clover and the person with the heart?' I think when you're a small company, which we are, we're not a Van Cleef -- they have a thousand lawyers. I'm a small fry next to that," explains Klum in the LA Times article.

"But you know what? That's how life is. You have to set yourself up from the very beginning properly."

On Mouawad's website it says that Klum's clover designs were "originally inspired by a marble clover-leaf patterned inlay that caught her eye on a trip to the Duomo in Milan." It goes on to say, "Heidi breathed new life into the good luck symbol, using it as a dazzling and versatile leitmotif in her collections."

The Heidi Klum Collection is now being drastically discounted at many retailers.

So what do you think? Is Van Cleef correct to claim rights to the clover? Leave a comment with your opinion.

Tags: celebrity-jewelry, clover, clover-jewelry, copyright-infringement, heidi-klum, heidi-klum-jewelry, lawsuit, louis-vuitton, lucky-charms, mouawad, pascal-mouawad, project-runway, van-cleef-and-arpels

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

FashionGypsy 8-12-2009 @ 4:32PM

Definitely. Van Cleef & Arpels owns that design. It was a bit copycat of Klum to come out with a jewelry line that was so similar to Van Cleef & Arpels.

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Lori 8-16-2009 @ 8:45AM

Excuse me, but how can it be that anyone can own rights to a design like a clover? That is rediculous. If people like Van Cleef Arpels products, they will buy from them. I would think that quality would be brought up before a lawsuit. I would think that if it was a quality peice, that the company would have rather advertised it as superior to Heidi's line instead of the route they took. It just sounds to me like Van Cleef is afraid of a little competition. Hmmmm.

Carol Broussard 8-16-2009 @ 11:31AM

I don't see how someone can own ALL the shapes of clover. Nature has many designs and all are not the same. If it is not a copy of a particular style of Van Clef and Arpels, I don't see how they can claim to OWN it.

Lana 8-12-2009 @ 6:18PM

I agree with Van Cleef & Arpels : when I first saw Heidi Klum's jewelery I immediately thought it was exactly the same as Van Cleef & Arpels !!

Bernadette 8-16-2009 @ 6:51AM

Tough issue. Same as the popular "flower" motif. I learned that you have to change your flower design a little and be sure that it is not exactly like someone else's if you want to use, e.g., a 5-petal flower that u see EVERYWHERE, even in nature. That clover is in EVERY ancient church! Same as the shape of a square, a rectangle, a circle, etc. Perhaps they should go after the artisans of the 12th century, but then again, perhaps they claim to be one of the original artisans from the 12th century. How long have they been around anyway -- not sure?! That is amazing! I don't know Heidi's line well, nor do I know Van Cleef & Arpels line well, but that's tough! I guess that may have been a challenge to them, dipping into their bottom line. Look out all of you who do the hoop earring! I'm just saying . . . and I am aware of copyright laws, but geez! Some things seem to be somehow arguable! Guess that's what the courts are for, huh! Tough situation!

MJ 8-16-2009 @ 7:11AM

People are so greedy!!!! They "oen" the clover design? What about the heart, or the triangle? What about the sign of the "cross"? Can anyone imagine all of the lawsuits pending on that one? LOL

pieter prall 8-16-2009 @ 8:35AM

OK, I am a professional artist and am pretty well known in certain circles. I am not some semicreative cog in the wheel of industry. It is my opinion as a creative person that nobody or no corporation should be able to own a visual natural shape or (on another topic) things like the genetic code of a natural organism. One of the most simple things for a "designer" to draw, a heart, a clover, doi, doi, doi, how uncreative to begin with and then to think one owns the shape - preposterous!

Gael 8-16-2009 @ 7:19AM

Heidi needs to get over herself. She is altogether too ego centric and "cute", even her annual revowing to be true to her husband is typically over the top. What, do life changing vows have a statute of limitations of one year for them?

Daumants 8-16-2009 @ 7:36AM

Someone owns the clover inspiration/idea, that's insane; does the RC church own the cross idea?
Those laws are made to foster greed. We must remember when an Indian tribe could not legally use some age old name or something from their history due to it having been copyrighted by greed.
It is greed that turned this country around.
If for our general well being liquor and nicotine addiction adds can be banned then we must realize that GREED adds must now be banned. It is greed that is destroying this society. Remember that "health insurance" is actually doctor bill insurance; naturally when a doctoir did not have to bill a person whom he/she knows the bill to either the government or the "insurance" company will be much higher.
On top of that, the peson who does pay her/his own bill is charged a highly inflated amount because neither the insurance companyh nor the government pays the entire amount that they have been billed. And if the individual refujses to pay the entire amount he/she risks serious credit rating damage.

Susan Shea 8-16-2009 @ 7:44AM

I think she should be able to sell her line of jewelry. So does Van cleef own all the clovers that grow ???? That is just crazy.It is her design and she should be able to show it to the world

sandlionarrakis 8-16-2009 @ 12:52PM

Has every moron posting ever bothered to read anything about copyright, design, or trademark laws? If they have used the clover and filed a design or trademark patent then they do have the right to sue if someone tries a knockoff.

If Klum or her partner had bothered to search patents then the suit could have been avoided. Designs must be a MINIMUM of 70% different from the original design/trademark, etc. That's from the artistic view. If it looks close enough to be associated with Van Cleef then they have enough to go after Klum. From design standpoint I'm sure it's much more detailed as to what can or can't be done.

There are patents and copyrights on medications and human genes, designs aren't that extreme.

karen 8-16-2009 @ 8:45AM

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Lori 8-16-2009 @ 8:52AM

Again.....it should be a quality issue. You can get look-alikes in just about anything, it boils down to quality. Maybe Heidi's line was superior to theirs?

Ellie 8-16-2009 @ 8:53AM

Personally I believe Mother Nature owns the clover design. God created it so it's been in its' orginal form since the beginning of time. Copyright laws can't over ride designs in nature.
The only way Klum and partner could have broken the rules was to create a clover design piece exactly or nearly exactly as the competition who put it out on the market first. Even at that no way can claim to own "the clover."
There is probably more to the story that we read here.

fempatriot 8-16-2009 @ 8:59AM

The cloverleaf is a universal symbol and should be treated as such. This is as ridiculous as McDonald's trying to copright the name McDonald when we Scots have had the McDonald name for centuries and share it willingly with the rest of the world. Clan McDonald is one of the largest Scottish families. (It means "son of Donald" by the way.) Anyway, unless Ms. Klum's cloverleaf design was exactly like Vancleef and Arpels, she should be allowed as many cloverleafs as she wants. They are just a greedy foreign bunch who are having trouble selling their overpriced stuff in these troubled times.