Kendra Scott Sues Online Sellers For Infringement
The billion-dollar jewelry brand Kendra Scott is suing online sellers for trademark infringement! Off the bat, the Defendants may be wondering what they should do. If you’re one of the businesses named in this lawsuit, you’ll want to look into retaining an attorney. Without question, hiring a lawyer will come with costs. But, the relatively low amount of money required to get an attorney at this juncture will more than likely save you much more in the long run.
What can an intellectual property attorney do for you? For starters, your lawyer will respond to the lawsuit on your behalf. Later on, they’ll be your goto when it comes to any type of negotiation with Kendra Scott. Sellers who’ve been named in the infringement lawsuit will want to come out the other side as unscathed as possible. You should consider how you will reduce the amount of financial damage your business will sustain due to the allegations. An attorney can give you the edge you’ll want so that you can get through the lawsuit with the least amount of damage!
Kendra Scott Counterfeit Lawsuit (Schedule A)
This latest Kendra Scott trademark infringement suit is a Schedule A lawsuit. It’s a federal lawsuit that allows the Plaintiff to claim that multiple e-commerce operators infringed on their intellectual property. Kendra Scott believes that their business has been seriously damaged by a proliferation of counterfeiting. In order to get compensated for those alleged losses, the Plaintiff filed the lawsuit. By naming a bunch of sellers all at once, Kendra Scott is seeking to improve their chances at getting the money they lost because of infringement. Settlements in Schedule A cases might seem like an attractive option. Sellers want to move on as quickly as possible. However, you might not like the fact that most Schedule A settlements reached directly with the Plaintiff result in sellers getting less money than they probably deserve! Sellers have a higher likelihood of getting a favorable settlement if they have an attorney.
One of the more difficult things involved with infringement lawsuits is a temporary restraining order (TRO). When substantial brands like Kendra Scott file counterfeit suits, a TRO is usually going to come into play. The Plaintiff wants to cease the infringement they believe is happening. The TRO, once approved by the court, puts a freeze on all of the Defendants’ seller accounts. You won’t be able to access your money! E-commerce businesses rely on the money in their accounts to operate. With a TRO, your business could be severely threatened. That’s why responding to the court is so darn important!
Retain an Attorney! Improve Your Outcome!
Any Defendant who chooses to ignore the lawsuit or not respond will be getting themselves into a more difficult situation. You might be forfeiting all of the money in your frozen account. Or, lining yourself up for a Default Judgment. If you’re not knowledgeable on how you should respond and/or what the response should look like, not to worry! Your attorney can handle that for you so you don’t have to.
Why exactly were you named as a Defendant in the Kendra Scott lawsuit? If you’re a seller who offered Kendra Scott products on the marketplace, that’s why. Whether on Amazon, Alibaba, eBay, Etsy, DHgate, Temu, Wish.com, or AliExpress. The lawsuit alleges that the named sellers engaged in counterfeiting, whether that’s accurate or not. You should spend time understanding the allegations, as seen in the legal complaint, so that you’ll have a full picture of the scenario.
Not sure what the heck Kendra Scott is talking about?! Your intellectual property attorney can interpret the legalese and break down the allegations for you. Understanding the precise reasons for the trademark infringement claims may require an examination of your business practices. If you want to get back to conducting your business with the least amount of loss, retain a lawyer!
Allegations of Trademark Infringement
The allegations made by Kendra Scott include the following:
Defendants concurrently employ and benefit from substantially similar advertising and marketing strategies. For example, Defendants facilitate sales by designing the e-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases so that they appear to unknowing consumers to be authorized online retailers, outlet stores, or wholesalers. E-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases look sophisticated and accept payment in U.S. dollars and/or funds from U.S. bank accounts via credit cards, Alipay, Amazon Pay, and/or PayPal.
E-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases often include content and images that make it very difficult for consumers to distinguish such stores from an authorized retailer. Kendra Scott has not licensed or authorized Defendants to use any of the Kendra Scott Trademarks, and none of the Defendants are authorized retailers of genuine Kendra Scott Products.
Defendants have ramped up their counterfeiting of the Kendra Scott Trademarks. Many Defendants also deceive unknowing consumers by using the Kendra Scott Trademarks without authorization within (a) social media advertisements directing them to Defendants’ websites and (b) the content, text, and/or meta tags of their e-commerce stores to attract various search engines crawling the Internet looking for e-commerce stores relevant to consumer searches for Kendra Scott Products.
Other e-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases omit using the Kendra Scott 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 Kendra Scott Products.
Are you a seller dealing with trademark infringement allegations? Contact our team at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC today! We offer a free initial consultation.
Download the legal complaint below:
Up next we will be discussing the Nat King Cole Trademark Infringement Lawsuit.
