Lohan ‘Virtual Closet’ Service Called a Ripoff

MANHATTAN (CN) - The latest accusation of sticky fingers against actress Lindsay Lohan comes from a company that lets users access the "virtual closet" of their favorite celebrities.

Fima Potik founded Spotted Friend in April 2013, and the prototype of a "virtual closet" has been functional since January 2014, according to the complaint filed in New York County Supreme Court on Thursday.

Not yet released publicly, the service allegedly allows users to access the "virtual closets" of celebrities and friends "to purchase the same products that celebrities and friends are buying."

Potik claims to have gotten connected to troubled starlet Lohan through a mutual associate, Christopher Roth.

While Potik allegedly met Roth while traveling overseas, he says Roth was roommates and good friends with Lohan's brother, Michael Lohan Jr.

After inking a deal with the Lohans in May 2013, Potik learned this March that the Lohans and Roth "began to poach potential opportunities for outside investment, celebrity endorsements, and strategic advisers from Spotted Friend" to create Vigme, according to the complaint.

The Huffington Post's editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington and ad mogul Donny Deutsch even jumped ship to become Vigme advisors, Spotted Friend says.

Vigme's "mobile-based marketplace" was a "clone" that was "identical in nearly every aspect to Spotted Friend," the 31-page complaint states.

The complaint includes a screenshot of the similar-looking smartphone apps of Spotted Friend and Vigme.

"The mobile e-commerce market is highly competitive, and a company's success depends largely on it being first to the market with its particular functionality," the complaint states.

Unless a court stops the Lohans, Spotted Friend allegedly "will never be able to recover."

"Because Vigme is nearly indistinguishable from Spotted Friend, public confusion between these two brands when they are both public later this year is highly likely," the complaint states. "Further, Ms. Lohan was the spokesperson for Spotted Friend and had previously discussed her and Mr. Lohan's involvement with Spotted Friend both on television and through Twitter. That she is now openly supporting, and discussing her affiliation with Vigme on her Twitter account, only serves to increase brand confusion between Spotted Friend and Vigme."

Spotted Friend wants an injunction plus damages for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition.

It is represented by Kenneth David of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP.

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