About a year ago, Louis Vuitton's Fendi brand took on Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) in its Sam's Club stores that were diminishing the brand of the company and taking legitimate sales away from the real thing and into the realm of counterfeit goods. While I'm not sure who would think Fendi would be sold at Sam's Club in the first place, Louis Vuitton did have a point here, because in the fashion biz, brand is everything.

Well, the two companies have settled up their differences, with Wal-Mart settling out of court with Fendi for an undisclosed sum. Perhaps that is all Louis Vuitton wanted, or perhaps it was a settlement based purely on the "black marks" the Fendi brand took for apparently being sold in the wholesale club division of the world's largest retailer. That is not an exclusive outlet for high-priced Italian handbags, is it? I could be wrong here.

The suit brought by Louis Vuitton involved more than just handbags as well -- wallets and key chains that were identified as genuine Fendi products were also included in the lawsuit. Now that Wal-Mart can get back to being in the business of "everyday low prices", perhaps Fendi can get back to being a place for overpriced personal items?

Fendi, the upscale handbag brand owned by Louis Vuitton of France, has taken issue with Wal-Mart over what it claims is the chain's selling of counterfeit Fendi items in its Sam's Club stores. Fendi actually filed a lawsuit in Manhattan this past Friday with this claim as the leader.

Fendi claims that the bags, purses and wallets are infringing on Fendi's trademarks and designs, while being very close replicas of actual Fendi products -- and these knock-offs are selling for hundreds of dollars less than actual Fendi items. While knock-off products are nothing new in the retail trade, the fashionable Fendi brand and the reach of Sam's Club stores all across the U.S. do not make for a friendly and cuddly situation.

While Wal-Mart stocks knock-off items in droves in many of its stores, this is the first time in recent memory that it has allowed a vendor
to bring in product with a price point that would only light the fire of a well-known upper-crust brand land Fendi. Imagine if Elizabeth Taylor's "White Diamonds" perfume was bing sold for $15 per two-ounce bottle at your local Sam's Club. She'd be in a tizzy about that.