Ivanka Trump will have to take a little break from hissing into her senile father’s ear to testify in a trademark dispute over the design of one of her company’s shoes.
Aquazzura Italia SRL sued Trump last year on the basis that her Hettie shoe was basically identical to its $785 Wild Thing Shoe, right down to the tassel. Um, yeah:
Last week, Trump’s lawyers requested that U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest block her from submitting to a deposition on the basis that she “had no involvement in the designing process,” the Daily News reports.
On Friday, Forrest rejected the request, saying that:
“Ms. Trump’s public statements regarding active and comprehensive brand management lead to a reasonable inference that the shoe at issue would not have been released without her approval.”
Forrest said the deposition may take place in Washington, will not exceed two hours, and that Trump can do it anytime before October. She’s very busy, you know.
In a declaration filed last week, Trump described herself as the “assistant to the Republican president of the United States,” and insisted that all design responsibility was left to the company’s licensee, Marc Fisher, who’s also getting sued.
“My involvement was strictly limited to the final sign-off of each season’s line after it was first reviewed and approved by the company’s design team,” she said.
Aquazurra’s attorneys beg to differ, citing a time she publicly declared that “There’s not a shoe I’m not intimately involved in designing.”
Apparently this isn’t even the first time this has happened. According to the lawsuit, Trump’s company stopped selling another shoe after Aquazurra complained. This time, they’re seeking unspecified damages.