Anna Nicole Smith Inc. Sues Von Dutch for Improperly Using Her Image

The company that controls Anna Nicole Smith‘s intellectual property rights is going after the fashion brand Von Dutch … claiming they’ve been using her image to sell their apparel without permission.

The lawsuit states Von Dutch never obtained permission from the company — or permission from Anna prior to her death in 2007 — to use her to sell products featuring her name, image, or likeness.

If you remember Anna working with the company back in the day, she did come out with a line in partnership with them … but, the company says she never granted anyone at Von Dutch the right to use her image.

BTW … in a Facebook post back in April, Von Dutch put up a photo of Anna wearing a black cowboy hat with pink lettering from her appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” in 2004.

They wrote in the caption, “Our iconic Anna Nicole Smith hat from her original VD collection” … but a source familiar with the situation tells us the hat wasn’t part of any collab with the brand — which is why she doesn’t even mention it in the clip of Jay’s show.

Anna died of a drug overdose in 2007 … and, her daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead, turned 18 last year.