Princess Di dressmaker in trademark dispute

BRUSSELS - Princess Diana's wedding dressmaker, Elizabeth Emanuel, faces a tough fight to win back her trademark - her own name - after an adviser to Europe's highest court ruled today that she had no right to it.

Emanuel shot to fame after the intense publicity of Princess Diana's wedding in 1981 and has designed for actress stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Collins. But when she was on the brink of bankruptcy, Emanuel sold her company, and her trademark.

In 2002, she launched a fight to get her name back after the company that bought her trademark started selling clothes under her name. Media reports quoted her as saying she was heartbroken that people thought she had designed the garments.

The case went all the way to the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court in Luxembourg.

Emanuel's lawyers argued that consumers were being deceived by the trademark since they were under the impression that Emanuel was the designer. On Thursday, the court's advocate general said she had no right to her name.

"The customer's conflicting perception, in the form of a continuing belief that that person is involved in the production process ... does not deserve to be classified as a case of deceit," the advocate general said in his opinion to the court.

The court follows an advocate general's opinion most of the time. In a telephone interview from London, Emanuel said she was upset by the court's view and would continue her battle.

"I am determined to fight this," she said. "I just find it unjust. I can't change who I am, I can't change my name, I will keep making money for him for the rest of my life. I find it deeply upsetting, deeply disturbing."

- REUTERS