Company Sues Store Over Toy Ponies

In the Old West, they tried to hang suspected horse thieves. Now they would just sue them.

At least that is the approach Hong Kong-based Lanard Toys Ltd. took last week after one of its employees discovered alleged “knockoff” copies of the corporation’s trademark toy ponies for sale at an Oxnard discount store.

The company’s attorney, former Republican congressional candidate Richard Sybert, sent a letter two months ago demanding the store halt its sales of the small pastel-colored pony dolls.

“Frankly, we don’t have any interest in coming down on a little retail store that may not be aware of this,” Sybert said.

But after receiving no response to the letter, Lanard filed a lawsuit in Ventura County Superior Court accusing Discount Center 97-cents and its owner, Danny Tan Le, of copyright infringement and unfair business competition.

The lawsuit says Lanard’s ponies have a distinctive design, including groomable tails and “an adorably cute facial expression,” which have been either reproduced or repackaged by the defendants.

The suit seeks unspecified damages, as well as the destruction of all the store’s plastic “Beauty Ponies,” which Lanard claims are knockoffs of its “Party Ponies.”

Le was vacationing out of the country and could not be reached for comment.

An employee at his Ventura Road store said workers stripped the shelves of the $1.49 ponies after being confronted by Sybert. The employee, who asked not be named, said they threw the ponies in the trash.

“We didn’t know if they were fake or real,” he said, adding that Le’s family-owned store bought the products from a wholesaler.

Lanard’s lawsuit, filed June 7, seeks any artwork, molds, advertising materials or catalogs with the toy from the defendants.