The assertion is plausible, but the original work doesn't seem obviously novel or creative enough to conclude that it was clearly copied by UO. Having come up with the idea: "necklaces with pendants consisting of metal outlines of states with hearts punched through them," their product is pretty much exactly what we would expect to see. There is some variation in the manner of construction, and hearts are punched in different locations (see e.g. New York).
Even if they copied the idea, it does not appear that there is any legal recourse, as the idea is not protected by copyright. I'm not very familiar with copyright as it pertains to art, so I may make some error in separating idea from execution here.
Note that while copyright law does protect the original work, "A second work, identical to an earlier copyrighted work, does not infringe, if it is, in fact, independently created." <http://law.unh.edu/thomasfield/ipbasics/copyright-in-visual-... >
Thus even if they stamp some of their pendants so as to be identical to the original works, this is not infringing, so long as the design is independently created.
Even if they copied the idea, it does not appear that there is any legal recourse, as the idea is not protected by copyright. I'm not very familiar with copyright as it pertains to art, so I may make some error in separating idea from execution here.
Note that while copyright law does protect the original work, "A second work, identical to an earlier copyrighted work, does not infringe, if it is, in fact, independently created." <http://law.unh.edu/thomasfield/ipbasics/copyright-in-visual-... > Thus even if they stamp some of their pendants so as to be identical to the original works, this is not infringing, so long as the design is independently created.