SpanxTwo of moms' most favorite topics -- Spanx and the Real Housewives -- are linked together now in one very weird way.

Former RHONY Housewife Heather Thomson has a shapewear brand called Yummie Tummie, and she's now suing Spanx for patent infringement.

The way it's all going down is worthy of its own plotline on the Real Housewives series!

According to Karyn Monget at Women's Wear Daily, Thomson "received a package at her Seventh Avenue offices that contained an anonymous note and a control tank top bearing a Spanx label which the note claimed was being sold on QVC."

Thomson says she recognized the top as a Yummie Tummie design, and sent a letter to Spanx claiming that the company was infringing on her patent.

Spanx, as you might imagine, filed a statement in court saying it didn't infringe on the Yummie Tummie patent. It released a statement to WWD, saying: “Spanx was making shaping camisoles long before Yummie Tummie. We have no further comment. The papers filed in court provide our position at this time.”

What I want to know is WHO sent the mysterious package?! Who? Who? Who?
 
I like to imagine it was some sort of shapewear double agent- an impossibly thin, 40-something-year-old woman with a botoxed brow and a collagen-enhanced grimace. She was probably dressed in designer black and oversized Chanel sunglasses when she mailed the package. Once it was on its way, she rushed off, looking around furtively to make sure no one saw her, pausing only to rub her hands together and laugh as she grimly imagined the havoc about to be wreaked in the hush-hush world of women's shapewear.

Or maybe I just need to get out more.
 
Adding to the drama, Thomson has published a letter to Spanx founder Sara Blakely on her website. It reads in part:
Until now I have had only respect for the growth of your Spanx business. Unfortunately, rather than showing me the same respect, you and Spanx have deliberately and willfully infringed on my patented inventions.
 
We brought this to your attention expecting you to stop. Instead, you've chosen to sue us, no doubt thinking your massive company could intimidate ours. We have successfully enforced our design patents in the past and will continue to do so.
Whoa.
 
Thomson, according to Business Insider, sued Maidenform Brands back in 2011 and won $6.75 million dollars. 
 
But it seems like in general, shapewear infringement lawsuits would be tough to prove. I've tried lots of different shapers and slimmers over the years from many different brands, and frankly, they all seem sort of alike.
 
What do you think? Does Heather Thomson have a case?
 
Image via Spanx.com