Kim Kardashian sued for 'knockoff' furniture

Kim Kardashian's oft-divisive interior design aesthetic is under new scrutiny. The estate of minimalist contemporary artist Donald Judd filed a lawsuit against Kardashian last week, claiming the fashion and beauty mogul promoted "cheap knockoffs" of his furniture designs.

The basis of the suit is a 2022 video Kardashian posted to YouTube, in which she gives a guided tour of the offices for her then-brand new makeup company, Skkn by Kim. The video, which the suit alleged received some 3.7 million views, was seemingly made private following the lawsuit filing.

While touting her office’s minimalist design, Kardashian specifically praises a sleek, large-scale wooden table with a set of matching chairs that are perfectly sized to slide beneath — creating a piece resembling less a dining table and more a brutalist sculpture.

“These Donald Judd tables are really amazing and totally blend in with the seats,” Kardashian says, moving a chair out to show the camera.

An artist and sculptor, Judd was known for his minimalist designs emphasizing clean whole shapes and industrial materials. As they appear in the video, the table and its matching chairs in Kardashian’s office resemble Judd’s famous La Mansana Table and Chair 84 — pieces that have become iconic among furniture designers and collectors since they were first produced in 1982. The Judd Foundation still manufactures and sells these designs, though they come at a cost: The table is priced at US$90,000, while the chairs retail for US$9,000 each.

But Kardashian’s wares were not authentic pieces, the Judd Foundation wrote in the lawsuit filed Wednesday against both Kardashian and Clements Design, the interior design firm she worked with in designing the Skkn office space. And even if they were, the foundation “categorically prohibits customers from using purchased Donald Judd furniture for marketing and promotional purposes,” it says in its court filing.

The foundation is claiming trademark infringement, copyright infringement, unfair competition, false advertising and false endorsement of the knockoff items.

“Consumers who watched the video or read the media coverage were misled to believe Ms. Kardashian’s tables and chairs were authentic Donald Judd pieces,” the foundation states in the filing. It is seeking the profits it argues Kardashian and Clements Design made off the use of Judd’s name.

Clements Designs, according to the court filing, said it never claimed the tables and chairs were authentic Judd pieces, and directed the foundation to settle the issue with Kardashian.

The design firm said in a statement the pieces it produced for Kardashian’s office had “obvious key differences” to Judd’s designs.

To add further insult, Kardashian’s knockoffs were also, the lawsuit claims, seemingly made from plywood — a material that the Judd Foundation does not authorize.”

“These poor-quality imitations masquerading as authentic Donald Judd tables and chairs harm the Donald Judd brand,” the lawsuit argues. “Consumers will see the cheap knockoffs… and erroneously associate (the) low-grade pieces with the Donald Judd brand,” the lawsuit states.

The foundation claimed it also offered to replace the counterfeit tables and chairs with authentic pieces at a discount if Kardashian issued a retraction and edited the video, the lawsuit claims.

Representatives for Kardashian offered to promote the Judd Foundation in a social media post, which the foundation rejected, and also offered to issue a retraction in the video caption, but not remove the video, the lawsuit claims. (SD-Agencies)

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【山寨货】 shānzhàihuò knockoff

a cheaper copy of an expensive and popular product

【代言】 dàiyán endorsement

the fact of a famous person appearing in an advertisement saying that they use and like a product 

金•卡戴珊一向众说纷纭的室内设计美学又受到了新的质疑。极简主义当代艺术家唐纳德•贾德的遗产管理人上周对卡戴珊提起诉讼，称这位时尚和美容公司老板视频推广的家具“山寨”了贾德的设计。

诉讼的依据是卡戴珊2022年发布在YouTube上的一段视频，她带领大家参观了自家化妆品公司Skkn by Kim全新的办公室。诉讼称这段视频的浏览量约为370万次，提起诉讼后，这段视频似乎已不再公开展示。

卡戴珊对办公室的简约设计大加赞赏，特别展示了一张光滑的大木桌，搭配一组可以滑动的座椅，不用时可以藏在桌下 —— 这样的设计与其说是一张餐桌，不如说是一件野蛮主义雕塑。

“唐纳德•贾德的桌子太神奇了，与座椅完全融为一体，”卡戴珊边说边拉出一张座椅。

作为一名艺术家和雕塑家，贾德以其极简主义设计而闻名，它们强调简洁的整体造型，突出工业材料。视频中卡戴珊办公室里的桌子和椅子与贾德著名的La Mansana Table and Chair 84非常相似 —— 自1982年首次生产以来，它们已成为家具设计师和收藏家的标志性藏品。贾德基金会仍在生产和销售这些设计，不过它们价值不菲：桌子售价9万美元，椅子每把9000美元。

但根据贾德基金会在周三对卡戴珊和克莱门茨设计公司提起的诉讼，卡戴珊的家具并非真品。克莱门茨是与卡戴珊合作设计Skkn办公空间的室内设计公司。基金会在法庭文件中说，即便是真品，基金会也“坚决禁止客户将购买的唐纳德•贾德家具用于营销和宣传目的”。

基金会称这些山寨产品存在商标侵权、版权侵权、不正当竞争、虚假宣传和虚假代言等问题。

该基金会在诉状中称：“观看视频或阅读媒体报道的消费者被误导，以为卡戴珊女士的桌椅是唐纳德•贾德的真品。基金会认为卡戴珊和克莱门茨设计公司利用贾德的名字赚取了利润，因此要求赔偿。”

法庭文件引述克利茨设计公司的话说，该公司从未声称这些桌椅是真品，并让基金会找卡戴珊解决纠纷。

该设计公司在一份声明中说，它为卡戴珊办公室制作的桌椅与贾德的设计有“明显的关键性差异”。

诉讼称，卡戴珊的山寨品似乎还是用胶合板制成的，贾德基金会从未授权任何制造商使用这种低档材料。

“这些伪装成唐纳德•贾德桌椅的劣质仿制品损害了我们品牌，消费者看到这些廉价的山寨品 ...... 会错误地将（这些）劣质产品与贾德的设计联系起来。”

该基金会还提出，如果卡戴珊发声明撤回并重新剪辑视频，它愿意以折扣价出售真品让卡姐替换冒牌货。

诉讼称，卡戴珊的代表提出在社交媒体上帮忙宣传贾德基金会，但遭到该基金会拒绝，还提出删除相关字幕，但拒绝删除视频。

(Translated by Debra)