By Mike Scarcella

WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A trio of Hermès shoppers has asked a U.S. appeals court to reinstate their lawsuit accusing the French luxury house of illegally forcing buyers to spend thousands of dollars on its products before they can purchase one of the fashion brand's famed Birkin handbags.

The consumers in a court filing on Tuesday told the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that a lower judge applied the wrong legal standard in dismissing the proposed class action last year.

The plaintiffs said they “plausibly alleged that Hermès conditions access to the Birkin handbag, its most iconic product, on the purchase of ancillary Hermès products that customers do not want or would prefer to buy from competitors.”

They said the alleged “tying” arrangement, where the sale of a Birkin handbag is contingent on shoppers purchasing other Hermès items, violates federal antitrust law.

Hermès and a lawyer for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco dismissed the case in September, siding with Hermès. The company had argued that sales of Birkin bags, which are handmade and can cost thousands of dollars, take place in a competitive market.

Donato told lawyers for the plaintiffs at a 2024 hearing that if Hermès "chooses to make five Birkin bags a year and charge a million to them, it can do that."

The consumers in their 9th Circuit filing faulted Donato for rejecting their definition of the market for elite luxury handbags in the United States, which was a threshold issue for the case.

They also said Donato applied an overly stringent antitrust standard that demanded greater specificity and proof than what should have been required at an early stage of the litigation.

The case is Tina Cavalleri et al v. Hermès International et al, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 25-6587.

For plaintiffs: Glenn Danas of Clarkson Law Firm; Shaun Setareh of Law Office of Shaun Setareh; and Joshua Haffner of Haffner Law

For Hermes: Christopher Yates, Belinda Lee and Ashley Bauer of Latham & Watkins

Read more:

Hermes defeats class action again over hard-to-get Birkin bags

Hermes hires Latham team to fight consumers’ Birkin bag lawsuit

Hermes sued in antitrust class action over Birkin bag sales