BONO’S WIFE SUES STELLA MCCARTNEY The Case Is Set To Go To Court In London This Fall

Against all “scentsibility”, the wife of U2 star Bono is taking legal action against Sir Paul McCartney’s daughter Stella in a dispute over one of the fashion designer’s fragrances. Or rather, in a dispute over one very common word found within one of her fragrance’s product names.

Back in 2002 Stella McCartney added her first perfume, Stella, to her fashion house and, more recently, decided to revitalise the scent with a new version called Stella Nude. This latest addition to her fragrance collection is due to be released this September and she states that “nudity” is a big part of the perfume’s look and design. The bottle, for example, is of a nude colour.

But news of the new perfume’s title has infuriated Bono’s wife Ali Hewson, who runs a company called Nude Skincare, reportsdailymail.co.uk.

Hewson and her business partner Bryan Meehan have filed a suit against McCartney, arguing that the use of the word “nude” amounts to alleged copyright infringement.

“Nude Skincare is suing for compensation, not because of anything to do with the scent of the perfume but because of branding and the use of the word ‘nude’. Stella isn’t likely to make any changes now because the fragrance is coming out in September and nudity is a big part of the perfume’s look,” said a source.

For someone whose husband is an international philanthropist and activist, I would have thought that eco-loving Ali would easily find better use of her time than suing such a big celeb over a shared word as common as “nude.” What will Ali go after next, I have to wonder— hosiery companies? Besides, this isn’t even the first time we’ve seen the word on the fragrance shelves; Bill Blass released the brisk floral scent of the same title back in the 1990’s.

Perhaps Ali’s husband’s popularity and level of fame has just attributed to her belief that she can do things like own rights to a word such as “nude.” I wonder if Ali is also going to tackle getting the rights to the word “entitled”?

The case is set to go to court in London this fall.

By Kiki D
Published August 13th, 2009 18:35

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