Victoria’s Secret sued over bra design

Pittsburgh A woman in western Pennsylvania claims in a federal lawsuit that lingerie store Victoria's Secret infringed on her patent for a bra design.

Heather M. Knox, of Monroeville, filed a lawsuit yesterday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh claiming that the store's new BioFit 7-way bra infringes on her design. Knox patented her "multi-layer uplift bra" in 2006 with the federal government.

Knox says she came up with the idea because she had difficulty finding the right bra for her frame. She said she even approached Victoria's Secret in 2007 about her design, which she called "The Right Bra." The store began selling their BioFit product this year.

A spokeswoman for Limited Brands, operator of Victoria's Secret, declined to comment on the suit.