COMPANY NEWS; GITANO GROUP THE TARGET OF A TRADEMARK LAWSUIT

Netherby Ltd., the British company that owns the worldwide rights to the Gloria Vanderbilt trademarks, is suing the Gitano Group, charging that it had failed to make payments for the use of the trademarks in the United States and Canada. The suit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, also contends that Gitano acted fraudulently when it sold the United States and Canadian trademarks to the Gloria Vanderbilt Apparel Corporation. Gloria Vanderbilt Apparel is owned by the Dabah family, whose patriarch, Morris Dabah, founded Gitano and whose members held 70 percent of Gitano's stock when the sale of the trademarks took place in 1988. Netherby is asking the court to reverse that sale by returning the trademarks to a licensing subsidiary of Gitano, and is seeking more than $1 million in payments.