Bloomberg.com is reporting that a trial date has been set for February in the case between Macy’s and J.C. Penny over the exclusive rights of selling Martha Stewart products in their stores.
As Multichannel Merchant reported over the summer, the lawsuit stems from a business deal made back in 2006 which granted Macy’s an exclusive license to manufacture and sell certain Martha Stewart Living Omnichannel products.
That agreement, the suit states, prohibited MSLO from entering into any other agreement with any third party retailer. However, in December of 2011 JCP and MSLO issued a statement announcing that the two had entered into a “strategic alliance” with each other. In the suit, Macy’s is claiming that alliance was a violation of its original agreement with MSLO.
Soon after the announcement, Macy’s filed a lawsuit against JCP over who holds exclusive rights to sell certain Martha Stewart Living products. Macy’s claimed in the suit that alliance was a violation of its original agreement with MSLO.
According to Bloomberg, the trial is set for Feb. 19 in New York City but will not include a jury or any major discussion of monetary damages. The article quoted presiding Judge Jeffrey K. Oing saying that any damages brought up during the trial by either retailers is “going to pale in comparison to the injunction.”
“The real big bucks there – if I stop this deal,” Oing said in the article.
Erin Lynch is the associate editor at Multichannel Merchant. Erin can be reached by emailing her at [email protected]. You can also follow her on Twitter at @LynchMCM or on LinkedIn.