THE owner of a beauty salon that specialises in back, sack and crack waxes claims she is being hounded by American underwear giant Victoria’s Secret because of her business’ name.
Maria Spencer founded Victoria Secret Beauty near London’s Victoria Station in 2011 and also bought the web address www.victoriasecretbeauty.co.uk to offer Brazilians and Hollywood hair removal.
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But she says she has now received four “threatening” letters from the billion dollar American knicker giant saying she is infringing copyright and branding laws.
They are said to have offered her $2,500 to change her business name and sign over her website and social media.
Maria claims they have even sent secret agents to her premises, posing as punters in desperate need of a wax to make sure she isn’t selling underwear.
Victoria’s Secret is best known for its celebrity ‘angels’ including Brit model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 30, and Aussie babe Miranda Kerr, 34, who parade down a catwalk in their undies wearing giant wings.
Its total sales in the first quarter of 2016 exceeded $1.7bn, something they say Mrs Spencer is benefitting from.
In contrast, veteran waxer Maria scrapes a living doing £25 manicures and intimate hair removal from a basement in Holborn, where she moved her business last year.
Maria, 50, said: “It’s ridiculous. When I set up, our premises were in Victoria and they were really hard to find, so I decided to call it Victoria Secret Beauty.
“I had never even heard of Victoria’s Secret and had no idea they traded in the UK.
“They wanted my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram log-ins and offered me $2,500 to give them the password.
“I told them I’m not selling underwear and was based in Victoria Street.
“We do back, sack and crack and Hollywood waxes.
“Who is going to get confused between us and the lingerie brand?
“I feel like I’m being bullied.”
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Maria even changed her logo to try and get the company off her back, but says they are still pestering her to change her name.
The American company has now reportedly since gone to Nominet, the UK’s registry of domain ownership, to complain.
They are also said to be pestering her to sell her manicure website address, www.victoriasecretnails.com, which redirects to her beauty salon’s main website.
Maria added: “The letters have become more threatening.
“They are working psychologically and are really trying to make me afraid. They are getting increasingly aggressive.
“I’m just a waxer. I’m not doing anything wrong.”
One letter reads: “A representative of this firm visited your premises on 28 April 2016 to enquire about the services offered by your business.
“There was a sandwich board outside the salon on the street advertising various beauty treatments, but there was no branding on it.”
Another letter added: “We will continue to monitor your business activities (both at your premises and on your website and social media pages) and if you take any steps to position your branding or offering any closer to Victoria’s Secret’s own brand and offering, we reserve our client’s rights to take any such steps as they deem necessary to protect their intellectual property rights.
There is also a cleaning company called Victoria’s Secret in the UK, but the UK’s Intellectual Property Office states no company can have exclusive rights to use of the word Victoria.
Sun Online has contacted Victoria’s Secret for comment.
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