Barbie Trademark Infringement Lawsuit | Mattel Sues Online Sellers

The worldwide toy company Mattel has filed a new trademark infringement lawsuit. The target of this lawsuit? Online sellers! Mattel has alleged that e-commerce operators have infringed on their intellectual property and sold counterfeit products online. The suit claims the company’s Barbie trademarks were infringed on. Here are some of the allegations of the Barbie trademark infringement lawsuit:

Many Defendants also deceive unknowing consumers by using the BARBIE Trademarks without authorization within the content, text, and/or meta tags of their e-commerce stores to attract various search engines crawling the Internet looking for websites relevant to consumer searches for Barbie Products. 

Other e-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases omit using the BARBIE Trademarks in the item title to evade enforcement efforts while using strategic item titles and descriptions that will trigger their listings when consumers are searching for Barbie Products.

Counterfeit Products for sale by the Seller Aliases bear similar irregularities and indicia of being counterfeit to one another, suggesting that the Counterfeit Products were manufactured by and come from a common source and that Defendants are interrelated.

Counterfeiters such as Defendants typically operate under multiple seller aliases and payment accounts so that they can continue operation in spite of Mattel’s enforcement. E- commerce store operators like Defendants maintain off-shore bank accounts and regularly move funds from their financial accounts to off-shore accounts outside the jurisdiction of this Court to avoid payment of any monetary judgment awarded to Mattel. 

Barbie Trademark Infringement | How Should Defendants Respond?

Many businesses involved in infringement lawsuits receive notice they’re being sued and then wonder what they’re supposed to do. What is the appropriate procedure for response? How should an online seller act? These are great questions! 

In terms of action, many sellers find that seeking the counsel of an intellectual property attorney is beneficial. You may hesitate to secure the services of an IP lawyer due to the cost. That’s entirely understandable! The lawsuit has already cost your business money and you may not believe it’s necessary to spend more for an attorney. The relatively small price of investing in a lawyer now, however, will likely benefit your business in the long term.

In many instances, sellers accused of counterfeiting express an interest in settling directly with the Plaintiff. Any Defendant can absolutely take this route. Let’s dive into this aspect of infringement lawsuits for a moment. 

Schedule A Counterfeit Lawsuits | The Impact on Online Sellers

What you may not know is that this is a Schedule A lawsuit. As such, big companies like Mattel can claim multiple infringers engaged in the alleged activity. And they can do so all in one lawsuit, as opposed to filing several different suits. This affects the settlement any Defendant may wish to reach with the Plaintiff. Mattel’s aim, in part, is to settle with the Defendants to regain as much of their loss as possible. To put it into clearer perspective, most settlements in Schedule A lawsuits leave sellers with an unfavorable portion of the money they’ve earned from selling the supposed fake goods. 

Having an attorney to negotiate a settlement for you will likely improve your ability to maintain the money you’ve already earned! It’s also possible that the claims made against a seller and their business are not accurate. Your lawyer has the wherewithal to convince the Plaintiff of that truth, as well. There are many more options for a favorable outcome when you activate the help of your own legal counsel! 

Temporary Restraining Orders | Sellers Denied Access to Accounts

One of the biggest blows that comes with Schedule A lawsuits is a temporary restraining order (TRO). After being approved by the court, the restraining order places a freeze on the sellers’ online accounts. Therefore, until the matter is resolved, sellers won’t have access to those accounts or the money in them. Mattel’s impact on the Defendants’ business could be detrimental. Online sellers are in a highly competitive marketplace. Cash flow is the name of the game. If that flow is disrupted, it has the potential to bankrupt an online selling business. To address the TRO and get back to selling, sellers must respond to the lawsuit! 

What were to happen if a seller didn’t respond to the lawsuit? Well, any money in their account affected by the restraining order will be given to Mattel. That’s an avoidable outcome! Not only that, any Defendant who ignores the lawsuit could face a Default Judgment. All in all, the investment in getting an intellectual property attorney to work on your behalf is worth it! 

Invest In An Intellectual Property Attorney

If you’re a Defendant in this case and have sold Barbie products, take some time to read through the legal complaint. Understand as best you can what is being alleged against your business. Any seller who intends to continue their online selling business may want to obtain a lawyer. Navigating the United States legal system is not always that straightforward. And, in terms of reaching settlements, having an attorney will permit you to negotiate with Mattel with the highest level of agency. We know that selling products online, finding success with sales, building a customer base, and making a profit is incredibly difficult. Unfortunately, infringement lawsuits are common and must be dealt with appropriately so that your business doesn’t go under. 

Our team at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC has delivered stellar outcomes for online sellers around the world! We can provide you with the precise legal services necessary to ensure a reasonable outcome. Contact us today for a free consultation!

Download the legal complaint below:

Up next we will be discussing the Squishmallows Federal Lawsuit.