Lawyers Duke It Out over Paraiba Lawsuit
Gary Roskin, Senior Editor, G.G., FGA, Senior Editor -- JCK Online, 6/18/2008 12:26:00 PM
John P Hannon II, attorney for David Sherman and Paraiba.com, has fired back at American Gem Trade Association’s attorney Thomas Shuck, of the law firm Parker Milliken, Los Angeles.
Responding to the eight-page letter Shuck sent him last week, Hannon begins by telling Shuck, “Your present threats to sue me and Mr. Sherman appear to be nothing more than an attempt to dissuade witnesses by threats of economic ruin. This conduct is similar to that undertaken by organized crime to prevent witnesses from testifying.”
Hannon then tells Shuck he is trying to confuse the issue. “I believe you have intentionally misconstrued the nature of the claim by Paraiba.com and Mr. David Sherman as against AGTA and the remainder of your clients. The basic claim of my clients is fairly straightforward and involves nothing more complex than a suit to collect damages for your clients’ commission of consumer fraud.”
Shuck had spent a good deal of effort pointing out trademark precedent as well as historic reference and AGTA-accepted definition to the secondary use of the place name Paraiba as a color variety. Hannon says it’s still not legal.
“When the conduct of your clients in passing off inferior stones as Paraiba stones became apparent, your clients engaged in a cover-up of their actions. Rather than admitting to improper conduct on the part of members of AGTA, the members got together and simply redefined, not once, but twice, what constitutes a Paraiba tourmaline. … This conduct of your clients is analogous to something like members of a conspiracy agreeing that they can sell sausage with fiberglass filling and pass the sausage off as pure pork. The fact that your clients have agreed among themselves that their illegal actions regarding the marketing of inferior stones should be made legal after the fact by the redefinition of the Paraiba stone is of little import. Your present claim that your clients have ratified illegal acts does not make the acts somehow legal.”
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A simple, but profound point here is, would it be illegal to call an African Emerald a colombian Emerald? Let's say it even had a similar color, even a similar chemical make-up, would you feel comfortable selling it as a colombian Emerald? Notice the small c in colombian, this is the proposed solution to the issue, calling them paraiba Tourmaline or Paraiba-type. Would the public or even most of the retailers understand the difference? No, and this is where the lines of full and partial disclosure begin to blur. In case this comparison didn't do it for you, here is another, on rare occasions a Sapphire comes out of Madagascar and has a similar beauty to that of a Kashmir Sapphire, yet it still costs less and it is NEVER sold as Kashmir. Why, because as a member of the AGTA I am beholden to the strictest of guidelines, not to mention, I would never feel good selling something and lying about its origin. After all I'm a gem broker and I am proud of what I do.
The saddest part of all is the gemstones from Mozambique are beautiful and worthy of the current prices they demand. Let's call them what they are, Cuprian Tourmaline from Mozambique. 99% of the copper-manganese Tourmaline you currently see in the marketplace is from Mozambique and the inventory of this material will be a small fraction of what it is today in a year or two. These simple facts alone will sell it without fraudulently implying a different origin.
Perhaps the dollar amount Mr. Sherman is suing for is just an effort to get attention brought to this matter. The reason for my assumption here is this, have you been on his website? There is no possible way that Mr. Sherman has come close to losing a small percentage of what he is suing for. In case you weren't aware of the amount he is attempting to obtain, it's as absurd as "fiberglass filling" in a pork sausage... $120,000,000.00. Yes, that's right, 120 million US dollars. Now, he sells beautiful items but, $120 million in lost revenue? No large loose stones, almost all of his jewelry is manufactured with Paraiba melee and when I have seen what he carries at shows there is never any Paraiba over 2-3cts. So, if this lawsuit is simply an effort to get attention brought to this matter then I commend Mr. Sherman. It's about time someone stood up and said no to this ridiculous attempt by the Laboratory Manual Harmonization Committee to change the law or code of conduct practiced for years by ethical gem brokers. Are you listening AGTA?
