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CCMI in the News
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Cashmere Manufacturers Win A Round in Court
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FROM THE APRIL 3, 2002 ISSUE OF DNR (DAILY NEWS RECORD)
Cashmere Manufacturers Win A Round in Court
WASHINGTON
(April 3, 2002) - Cashmere textile and garment manufacturers have claimed
a court victory in their years-long bid to keep apparel labeled with false
cashmere content claims from being sold.
The case stems from a lawsuit
first filed in 1996 by the Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers' Institute
against apparel maker Harve Benard, Ltd., and retailers Saks Fifth Avenue
and Filene's Basement.
The institute, based in Boston but with international
membership, disputed Harve Benard's claim that certain of its women's blazers
contained cashmere. According to the institute's experts, the blazers had
no virgin cashmere, but used coarser recycled cashmere woven into a wool-polyester
blend.
On Monday afternoon, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston,
awarded the institute, along with cashmere maker L.W. Packard & Co.,
a new trial to decide whether Harve Bernard and the two retailers ran afoul
of federal rules barring deceptive advertising. Earlier, a lower court judge
had ruled against the institute and Packard, arguing they hadn't demonstrated
consumer injury, a ruling. Packard is seeking millions of dollars in damages.
The appeals court judge said the lower court ruling was wrong. Since
the institute demonstrated the Harve Benard blazers were mislabeled and "literally
false, there is no need to burden the (institute) with the onerous task of
demonstrating how consumers perceive the advertising," the appeals judge
ruled.
The judge also noted Harve Benard has since started labeling its garments in question as containing recycled cashmere.
“Indeed,
it seems obvious that cashmere is a basic ingredient of a cashmere-blend
garment; without it, the product could not be deemed a cashmere-blend garment
or compete in the cashmere-blend market," the judge wrote.
Harvey
Schutzbank, vice president and CFO, Harve Benard, said of the appeals court
decision: "What this now permits is the case to go forward and obviously
we are quite confident that when all the evidence is known we will prevail."
Schutzbank also said the decision to label garments containing recycled cashmere
was made prior to the lawsuit being filed.
Calls made to Filene's and Saks were not returned.
With
a trial being granted, Karl Spilhaus, president of the institute, "we have
the ability to show there is some consequence to flouting the law." JOANNA
RAMEY
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