Another day, another court case. It seems as though the Kardashians and Jenners are getting slapped with lawsuits every day now…
Kim Kardashian’s company Kimsaprincess is being sued by SnapLight for $110 million dollars. The lawsuit is for alleged patent infringement related to her endorsement of LuMee phone cases. According to the documents, Kim is being sued by Hooshmand Harooni who said that he received a patent back in 2013 for an “integrated lighting accessory and case for a mobile phone device”.
LuMee created a case that allowed people to take selfies in places without much sunlight. The proclaimed, “Selfie Queen”, made Lumee a very popular product because she attributed her flawless selfies to the bright light beaming around the case. She called it her “perfect selfie secret”. Kim Kardashian can be seen using the case on Instagram, Snapchat, and even on her own reality show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
The documents argue that the reality star’s use of the LuMee case caused too much competition. In return, SnapLight couldn’t keep up because they were barely making any profits.
“Simply being endorsed by an influencer like Ms. West leads to numerous sales regardless of whether or not the endorsed product infringes the intellectual property rights of others.”
The documents continue to talk about Kim’s empire and how having a dominate celebrity with a massive platform endorsing the competition, directly damaged their profits.
“Much of her influential empire has been built through selfies and infringing selfie cases. Based on Ms. West’s endorsement and social influence, LuMee distributors such as Urban Outfitters have benefitted financially through increased sales of the LuMee selfie cases. And Ms. West’s endorsement is not a shill; she is also an ‘official’ partner with LuMee and has designed cases for LuMee.”
According to a statement by a LuMee spokesperson to Us Weekly, the lawsuit holds “no merit”.
“The lawsuit has no merit and Kim has done nothing wrong. LuMee is an innovator of illuminated cell phone cases and was the first to market. Between its patents, copyrights, and trademarks, LuMee has developed substantial intellectual property rights surrounding its product line.” The phone case company is now asserting patent infringement against SnapLight in the District of Delaware. LuMee actually sued Snaplight first back in November of 2016. In the documents obtained by TMZ, LuMee has its own patent that was issued in 2016 and they acknowledged SnapLight’s patent as well, issued in 2013.
In the documents obtained by TMZ, LuMee has its own patent that was issued in 2016 and they acknowledged SnapLighs patent as well, issued in 2013.