Just days after being caught hawking FDNY merchandise without a license, the city’s biggest souvenir seller has filed suit, claiming it has a legal right to make money off the Fire Department logo.
City Merchandise is arguing that the nonprofit foundation that controls the FDNY trademark can’t stop it from churning out the T-shirts, hats and trinkets that became so popular after Sept. 11.
The Brooklyn-based wholesaler claims that since the Fire Safety Education Fund didn’t crack down on unlicensed booty in the past, it essentially abandoned the trademark.
The lawyer for the FDNY-affiliated fund, Jeffrey Laytin, denied that, and plans to file a cross-complaint against City Merchandise.
FSEF board member Stephen Ruzow said that after the fund obtained the rights to the logo from the city in October 2000, he began discussing a licensing agreement with City Merchandise and negotiating which items the company could make.
Ruzow said he even bought some keychains, shot glasses and ashtrays to sell in the Fire Zone gift shop – which funnels profits to safety education and firefighter-family outreach programs.
“But once Sept. 11 came along, they saw the opportunity to make a lot of money and they said, ‘To hell with a license,’ ” Ruzow said.
The fund warned City Merchandise to stop selling the items at least three times since November, but The Post found company execs taking orders at a trade fair just last week.
City Merchandise says it still wants to negotiate a licensing agreement, but it wants the royalties to go to families of firefighters killed at the trade center.
The firm even claims a percentage of its FDNY sales is being earmarked for that cause, although its lawyer, Edward Toptani, couldn’t provide details.
Meanwhile, three weeks after The Post revealed that City Merchandise hadn’t donated a penny from the sale of postcards that were supposed to benefit FDNY families, the company announced it’s making a $15,000 gift to the firefighters union this week.