NRI perfume manufacturer sues L'Oreal

NEW YORK: Indian-American perfume manufacturer Mahender Sabhanani, who was arrested with his wife for torturing two Indonesian maids last week has sued cosmetic major L'Oreal and its division Giorgio Armani perfumes alleging trademark infringement of his men's cologne named Attitude.

While the lawyers of the multi millionaire couple who run their business from Long Island, worked out details to get them released on bail, Mahender's corporate attorney filed a lawsuit yesterday in Brooklyn Federal Court seeking an injunction against the beauty behemoth, the New York Daily News reported.

Sabhnani said he launched a men's cologne named 'Attitude' in 1995 that it is sold nationwide. Then in March, he read in Women's Wear Daily that L'Oreal was promoting a men's cologne with the same name, the report said.

After checking the details he found out that the US Patent and Trademark Office had cancelled his trademark because he had neglected to file some paperwork, and L'Oreal applied to use the name last December, the complaint says.

Prosecutors have charged Sabhanani's wife Varsha with beating and torturing the Indonesian maids and subjecting them to psychological torture while he watched and did nothing.