US federal judge: lawsuit over social media allegations of hair accessory design theft can proceed

Overview

A federal judge in Oregon has released a decision detailing allegations of coordinated online harassment between two social media influencers against a small business owner. The case, Owen v. Askew, was decided by Judge Ann Aiken in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

Parties Involved

• Plaintiff: Kursten Owen – An Oregon resident and owner of Elegance & Geekery, LLC, an Oregon-based business that sells accessories. The business reported gross receipts of $190,310 in 2024. Owen has been making and selling hair accessories for eight years.

• Defendant: Breana Askew (dba Breromi) – A Georgia resident who also makes and sells hair accessories and maintains a large social media following.

• Defendant: Kiandria Demone Boyce – A Georgia-based civil rights activist with a large social media following. The plaintiff alleges Boyce "weaponizes" her platform to engage in "cyberbullying" and has "previously engaged in online campaigns wherein she leverages her online following in order to orchestrate the filing of mass public complaints to third party sites such as GiveSendGo/Square in order to compel the companies to act in a certain way." Boyce is not alleged to be involved in the hair accessory business.

Timeline of Alleged Events

July 14, 2025

• Askew viewed a promotional video for Owen's hair clips and concluded that Owen's designs were copied from her own products.
• Owen alleges her hair clip designs are "materially different" from Askew's and were developed "independently and from scratch."
• That evening, Askew began posting comments on Owen's business social media pages, accusing Owen of intellectual property infringement.
• Askew sent Owen a "Cease & Desist" email, threatening legal action.
• Less than one hour after sending the email, Askew posted on social media accusing Owen of stealing her designs and urged followers to report Owen's business for selling "rip offs."

July 15, 2025

• Boyce contacted Askew via social media and requested Owen's business account information, which Askew provided.
• Boyce commented that Owen "has yet to meet a bully honestly. I've been busy today."
• Owen publicly responded to Askew's accusations, denying any infringement.
• Shortly after, Boyce posted a response accusing Owen of stealing Askew's designs, which "garnered significant attention."
• Boyce made additional posts accusing Owen of theft and instructed followers to report Owen's business and post negative reviews on Facebook.
• Both Askew and Boyce posted links and detailed instructions for followers to contact Shopify, the online commerce platform used by Owen's business, and report that Owen was "illegally selling counterfeit products."

July 17, 2025

• Boyce posted a video directed at Owen, stating: "If you value that business and that website, I would think twice before you continue to play the game you're playing … the real bully has entered the chat. I promise you, you haven't seen anything yet … I'm the one who made the viral post about it."
• Boyce continued: "Bre [Ms. Askew] didn't send a hate mob after you. I did … this was orchestrated because at this point, you fucking know that this was not an original idea. You know that it was stolen from a black creator, and you are still doing backflips to make excuses for that. So I'm going to say this and I promise you, I'm not going to say this again. Keep antagonizing this black woman. Keep going back and forth with her. Keep gaslighting her and painting her out to be the aggressor. When you are the one who stole her design. Keep doing it. Just go ahead and keep engaging it. And I promise you, going to court with Bre [Ms. Askew] is going to be the least of your worries. Google me, Google Kiandria Demone. And then keep on antagonizing this black woman. And you're going to find out exactly who the fuck I am."

Plaintiff's Position

Owen maintains that:

• Her designs were independently developed and are materially different from Askew's products.
• Askew lacks any enforceable intellectual property rights over her products.
• The actions of Askew and Boyce constitute orchestrated online harassment.