For the second time in three years, Target Corp., is being sued by Coach Inc. for allegedly ripping off the luxury handbag maker's designs.
In a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, New York-based Coach accused Target of trademark infringement and unfair competition relating to two Coach designs-- its Ergo fold-over handbag and its Signature Patchwork line.
It isn't the first time Target, the nation's second-largest discount chain, has been accused of producing a lower-priced replica of designer goods. Coach accused Target of a similar trademark infringement in 2006. The two eventually settled the lawsuit.
In recent years Target has faced similar lawsuits from Lucky Brand Dungarees and Williams-Sonoma, which claimed Target has a "long-standing pattern" of copying its home-furnishing designs. Both of those lawsuits also were settled confidentially.
In this newest lawsuit, Coach claims handbags "bearing exact and/or confusingly similar reproductions" to its designs began showing up on Target shelves in or around the summer of 2009. Coach launched the designs in 2008 and both have had strong sales, according to Coach.
Coach said the Target knockoffs are likely to confuse and deceive the public, and will harm Coach's reputation as a maker of high-quality leather goods with "distinctive quality."
Coach is suing for an unspecified amount in damages, including attorney's fees and all profits from sale of the handbags. It asks that Target be prohibited from using Coach's Ergo and Signature Patchwork designs.
"We are currently looking into this situation and working with our vendor partner," Minneapolis-based Target said in a statement Monday. "It has always been -- and continues to be -- Target's policy to respect the intellectual property of others."
Some of the bags still are being sold, said Target spokeswoman Jana O'Leary. She couldn't say whether they would remain in stores in light of the lawsuit.
Jackie Crosby • 612-673-7335