Cartier filed a suit last month against the Bidz.com online auction site. The lawsuit alleges that Cartier has proprietary rights, including trade dress, patents, trademarks and copyrights, in watch designs, and it alleges that Bidz has infringed upon those rights by selling watches bearing copies of one or more of the watch designs.

Bidz.com's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed the lawsuit and said, "we do not believe that this lawsuit will have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial position."

Two years ago Cartier sued several eBay sellers seeking damages for trademark infringement, trademark dilution and false advertising (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y04/m08/i23/s02).