Fabergé settles New York lawsuit

Jeweller Fabergé has reportedly settled a trademark dispute with a New York restaurant of the same name.

The jeweller had sued Faberge, which does not use an accent on the final ‘e’ and replaced the ‘a’ with an Eiffel Tower image, for “shameless” trademark infringement in June.

It also said the restaurant had copied the purple and gold diamond shop front at its London boutique.

According to the  New York Daily News, the restaurant was also accused of naming menu items that referenced the jeweller’s history.

Fabergé was founded in 1842 in St Petersburg and makes a range of jewellery, from its renowned Eggs to bracelets and necklaces.

Although the New York restaurant’s owner, Vladislav Yusufov, had argued there would be no consumer confusion between the two companies because he sells steaks rather than jewellery, he has agreed to settle the case, according to Reuters.

“It was a business decision that it would be less expensive just to comply with their demands rather than fighting it out,” his lawyer told the news agency.

Judge John Gleeson at the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, where the case was filed, has now ordered Faberge to change its name, regardless of its spelling, by the end of August.

Gleeson has also ordered Faberge to change the restaurant’s facade.

The restaurant will pay $25,000 in damages, Reuters reported, and has covered up the sign while it decides on a new name.

The restaurant opened last year in the city’s Brooklyn borough.