Gucci sues Gucci?

The Gucci Group, owned by French company Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, has won an injunction

against Elisabetta Gucci and her partners, thwarting plans to develop a global chain of hotels under her moniker - according to a report from arabianbusiness.com.

Gucci’s plan to open an 87-suite hotel, duly named Elisabetta Gucci Hotels, in Dubai by the end of the year took a u-turn in a ruling by a Florence court last week.

The use of Elisabetta Gucci’s name “has caused customer confusion and has been harmful to Gucci’s business” and the ruling “will hopefully act as a significant deterrent for those who intend to unlawfully license or commercially exploit the Gucci trademarks,” the company said in an e-mail.

Like all the members of the Gucci family, the business woman and great-granddaughter of Gucci founder Guccio Gucci is forbidden to commercially use the Gucci name, which is entirely owned by the Gucci Group. In an earlier statement, the luxury goods company told WWD: "Gucci wants to make clear that it has no relationship to Elisabetta Gucci Hotels and that it is not involved in any project whatsoever with Elisabetta Gucci Hotels."

The court is reported to have imposed a penalty for any violation and awarded Gucci legal fees.