Helzberg’s sues over I AM LOVED trademark, but the suit’s target says it’s the victim

Helzberg’s, the house of “I AM LOVED,” has no love for a California company it says has tread on that famous trademark.

“Right back atcha,” seems to be the reply from California-based based Mantra Band LLC. Its attorneys have accused North Kansas City-based Helzberg’s Diamond Shops Inc. of selling knockoffs of Mantra’s bracelets.

The companies’ dispute has landed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City.

To catch you up with things, Helzberg’s hasn’t owned the I AM LOVED trademark for more than a decade. And Warren Buffett’s outfit, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has owned Helzberg’s Diamond Shops Inc. for more than two decades.

Helzberg’s sued Mantra Band, saying it still has the rights to use and defend the I AM LOVED trademark under the 2006 deal it made with the new owner of the trademark, Columbia Insurance Co.

An attorney for Helzberg’s forwarded a request for comment to the company, which did not respond. An attorney for Mantra Band did not respond to an inquiry.

Mantra Bands makes sleek cuff-style bracelets stamped with various mantras, usually in all capital letters: SOUL SISTERS, YOU’RE MY PERSON, ENJOY THE JOURNEY, SHE IS FIERCE, FEARLESS, FOREVER FRIENDS, OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO, BE THE CHANGE, etc.

They sell online, on Amazon.com and at Macy’s, Nordstrom, The Buckle and elsewhere, according to Helzberg’s lawsuit.

Among them, I AM LOVED.

Helzberg’s claims to have used that trademark since at least 1967. The idea “originated with the engagement and wedding” of Barnett Helzberg Jr., grandson of founder Morris Helzberg, and Shirley Bush, the lawsuit said.

Barnett Helzberg started giving them away, free, as promotions for the company. Within weeks, this dispatch emanated from The Associated Press.

“The newest craze is to show your affection by sending your heroes I AM LOVED buttons,” the New York AP reported, according to Helzberg’s lawsuit.

These days, I AM LOVED pins come in 11 languages, Helzberg’s claims, adding that they “instantly and exclusively” say this is Helzberg’s, its stores and its jewelry. The lawsuit cites five “incontestable” trademarks, including one for “I AM LOVED (words with no design or stylization).“

Lawyers for Helzberg pretty much pointed this out to Mantra Band in a letter in April. Images of two bracelets, side by side. Both said I AM LOVED. One from Helzberg’s, one from Mantra. Mantra Band should stop doing that, the letter said.

Two weeks later, lawyers for Mantra Band, in Dana Point, Calif., sent their own letter back. Helzberg’s is the violator, it said, and that first letter had spilled the beans.

“Your letter has brought to our attention that the bracelets therein described ... are being imitated and sold by your client,” it said to Helzberg’s attorneys. It showed images of other Helzberg’s bracelets with sayings such as LIVE IN THE MOMENT, FAITH, I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK, etc.

That whole I AM LOVED trademark thing doesn’t mean Mantra Band should stop its “ornamental use of the common phrase ‘I am loved,’ “ the letter said.

Rather, Mantra Bands has a copyright for its “distinct line of stamped cuff bracelet designs,” the California attorney wrote. So, “cease and desist” from imitating Mantra Band’s bracelets, the warning came, complete with an agreement for Helzberg’s officials to sign agreeing to do so.

A couple more letters changed hands with stern words and phrases such as “counterfeiting,” “false designation of origin,” damages, “frivolous,” “disconcerting,” “extremely generic” and “pedestrian.”

Now the dispute is in federal court.

This story was originally published August 24, 2018 at 11:57 AM.