GemEx has filed suit against Zale Corp., accusing it of false advertising under the Lanham Act, for allegedly “misrepresenting” its “Firetrace” reports.

In its suit, GemEx alleges Zale falsely represents to consumers that its Firetrace reports measure the light return or light performance of a diamond. According to GemEx, a Firetrace report is based on measuring the physical shape of a diamond, but a ray-tracing analysis does not measure the actual light returned by a stone.

According to the suit, GemEx trained Zale employees for the launch of its Celebration Diamond in the summers of 2006 and 2008, “based on Zale’s assurance would purchase GemEx Light Performance Reports for the Celebration Diamonds.” However, Zale went with a GemEx competitor, GS Laboratories of America, for its reports, the suit says.

A Zale spokeswoman called the suit “without merit” and said “we intend to fight it vigorously.”

JCK