Italian company will compensate Optica Halperin with 8 million shekels

June 2, 2016   

A long-running legal battle between Optica Halperin and the Italian giant Luxottica, the world's largest company in the field that manufactures, among other things, the Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Versace and Ray-Ban brands, has come to an end with the Israeli company's victory. The Tel Aviv District Court ruled that the Italian company will compensate the Israeli company with 8 million shekels. According to a report in Israel Today, the struggle began five years ago, after Optica Halperin sought to find ways to make luxury brands accessible to Israeli consumers. In an agreement it made with Luxottica Italia, it received a franchise to exclusively import Ray-Ban Optic brands to Israel, on the condition that the company sell at least 20,000 pairs of glasses and avoid aggressive advertising. However, the Israeli company managed to sell more than 32,000 pairs. According to the Israeli company, the Italian giant broke the agreement after a year, intending to sell the glasses itself. "They got an appetite because of our success," the chain's owner, Yaakov Halperin, told Yair Altman of Israel Hayom. "This is a draconian company that holds most of the brands in its hands, blocked us and restricted our steps. Ever since we sued them, they have been preventing us from importing all the brands, and we are importing them through parallel imports.".