French luxury label Cartier owned by the Richemont Group is suing LVMH’s Tiffany & Co of hiring an underqualified manager to learn of their ‘High Jewelry’ collection. Stealing trade secrets is not something the more than a century-old brand, Cartier, is willing to tolerate and even more so when it involves its arch-rival. According to a complaint filed in a New York state court in Manhattan, Tiffany hired away a junior manager Megan Marino to learn more about Cartier’s “High Jewelry” collection, where pieces typically cost $50,000 to $10m.
Cartier has openly and sternly admonished Tiffany’s ‘disturbing culture of misappropriating competitive information.’ According to Reuters, an affidavit accompanying the complaint revealed that Marino said Tiffany was “more interested in hiring me as a source of information than a High Jewelry manager.” That’s not all; Cartier also accused Tiffany of letting a recently hired former Cartier executive work on a high jewelry project called the “Blue Book” despite her six-month non-compete agreement.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction requiring that Tiffany return and not use stolen trade secrets, plus unspecified damages. Richemont has been thriving after a few rough months when the pandemic was at its peak. Richemont enjoyed boosted quarterly sales by 32% as demand for jewelry and watches came through following a manger earlier in the coronavirus pandemic. Sales at Richemont’s jewelry brands Cartier, Buccellati, and Van Cleef & Arpels rose 38%.
