'Real Housewife' Jennifer Gilbert Settles Copyright Case
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Real Housewife of New Jersey" bad girl Danielle Staub reportedly has a sex tape about to be released, and last week "Real Housewife of New York" Sonja Morgan got busted for a DUI.
Now a newbie “New York Real Housewife” has joined the fray, settling a high-profile lawsuit with a matchmaking company.
Jennifer Gilbert was introduced on the hit Bravo show as Jill Zarin’s party planner. Earlier this year, Gilbert, principal of NY-based event consulting company “Save the Date,” filed a Trademark Infringement lawsuit against Hattie Grace Elliot, Founder & CEO of the high-end dating service “Save the Date(ing)”, which brings together singles to social events.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After two months of attorneys vigorously battling it out, Pop Tarts has learned that Elliot decided to settle out-of-court last week and re-brand her business “The Grace List,” because she says Gilbert’s financial means would have allowed her to drag the case out indefinitely.
“[Gilbert’s legal counsel] claimed I could not use the words 'save the date.' However, I was completely prepared to contest the lawsuit and argue that the phrase 'save the date' is a generic term used by all types of people and businesses,” Elliot said of the outcome. “I have complete faith that I would have won had the case gone to a jury trial, but only decided to settle due to the prohibitive costs involved in defending myself and my company in federal court. I do not have the unlimited financial resources of Ms. Gilbert, who I understand has been quite successful in suing numerous small businesses.”
Gilbert says she was simply protecting the image of her 16-year-old business.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I have to protect my legal rights and my trademark. It's not personal, its business,” Gilbert told Pop Tarts. “It was a corporate matter and I needed to protect my company that I've had for 16 years."