We Know the Bra Works, But Are Her Briefs Supportive?

An inventor is suing Victoria's Secret for unspecified damages over claims that her patented strapless bra design was infringed by the company.

One place it would probably not go is to lingerie — bras and litigation being an uncomfortable fit. But then there was the lawsuit filed on Monday in United States District Court in Manhattan: a patent matter relating to Victoria Secret’s “Very Sexy 100-Way Strapless Convertible Bra.”

The bra is, according to the lawsuit, the intellectual creation of Katerina Plew, a Long Island paralegal, who registered it under United States Patent No. 6,733,362 in May 2004. Ms. Plew, who is 38, contends that Victoria’s Secret stole, then mass-produced, her specialized design.

“The first time I thought of it I was getting ready for a christening,” Ms. Plew said in a telephone interview from her home in Selden, N.Y. “It was an idea that just popped into my head in — don’t know — like March of ’99.”

The bra, with its various hooks and eyelets, is something like the Micronaut of the undergarment world. By a complicated series of maneuvers, it can be worn in as many as 100 ways.

Which, of course, made it a prized commodity to underwear purveyors. Ms. Plew said that in 2006 she had arranged to meet with designers from Victoria’s Secret. But without warning and on the very day it was set to have occurred, she said, the designers canceled the appointment.

Robin Olshavsky, a spokeswoman for Limited Brands Inc., Victoria Secret’s parent company, said she could not comment on pending litigation. Along with a screen grab from Victoria Secret’s online catalog promoting the bra, Ms. Plew included in her lawsuit a copy of her patent form with a history of previous bras (from the Capparelli to the Zweben) and detailed renderings of her own invention, complete with “diagrammatic rear elevational view.”

Ms. Plew says she remembers precisely where she was when she first saw the bra she says she invented strapped across the bosom of a mannequin.

Just so we know for sure what we're talking about here, this is what the bra looks like:The bra retails for more than $50. The Victoria's Secret Model is not included.

Ah, the joys of discovery.