Jennifer Gilbert, who makes her debut on Real Housewives of New York City this season, has already begun stirring up drama by filing a lawsuit against a New York–based matchmaking business, Save the Date(ing), for trademark infringement against the title of her own event-planning company, Save the Date. Hattie Elliot, the founder and CEO of Save the Date(ing), is baffled by the new housewife’s action: “She is coming after a start-up company that has nothing to do with weddings or corporate events and attempting to shut us down,” she wrote in an e-mail. “There are over 100 companies with the name Save the Date. I literally have no idea why she’s coming after us.” Would Elliot be interested in appearing on the reality show if the litigation process became a point of drama? “Absolutely not.”
When reached via e-mail, Gilbert said that she was unable to comment on pending litigation and referred us to her lawyer, Zeynel Karcioglu, who called the suit “an ordinary corporate matter” and said that it won’t be featured on the show. “Generally, it’s Save the Date’s policy to enforce its IP rights,” he explained. “This is unfortunately within the day-to-day for us.” Isn’t there a glaring difference between the wording of the two company titles? “That’s for the court to decide.” Gilbert copyrighted the name of her event-planning company in 1999 and filed a similar case in 2008 against Save the Date Event Consultants. That company is now called Sonal J. Shah Event Consultants.
