Paralegal's Bra Design at the Center Of IP Dispute

NEW YORK (NYT) — Hear the phrase "intellectual property," and the mind might wander to the epic struggle between the recording industry and Napster, or the more recent battle between J.K. Rowling and a fan who wanted to publish The Harry Potter Lexicon as a literary love note.

One place it would probably not go is to lingerie — bras and litigation being an uncomfortable fit. But then there was the lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Manhattan: a patent matter relating to Victoria Secret’s "Very Sexy 100-Way Strapless Convertible Bra."

The bra is, according to the lawsuit, the intellectual creation of Katerina Plew, a Long Island paralegal, who registered it under U.S. Patent No. 6,733,362 in May 2004. Plew, who is 38, contends 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," 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 manoeuvres, it can be worn in as many as 100 ways.

Robin Olshavsky, a spokeswoman for Limited Brands Inc., Victoria Secret’s parent company, said she could not comment on pending litigation. (Source)