GM Trademark Infringement Lawsuit | General Motors Sues Sellers

What’s the biggest issue online sellers will face because of the General Motors trademark infringement lawsuit? The temporary restraining order (TRO) that the Plaintiff will likely get approval for by the court. What the restraining order does is simple. It puts a freeze on the sellers’ online accounts. Does that mean e-commerce operators won’t be able to touch their money? Yes! That’s precisely the impact of the TRO. 

Why’s General Motors seeking to impose a restraining order on the online sellers being sued? According to the Plaintiff, the brand has sustained significant damage to their reputation. That damage was allegedly caused by the sellers offering counterfeit General Motors goods to consumers. Is that true? Is that false? The accuracy of the counterfeit claims may vary from one Defendant to another. Regardless, the TRO will affect all of the sellers until a resolution is reached. 

How to Act Once a Restraining Order is Approved

Are the Defendants permitted to reach direct settlements with General Motors? Of course! You can come to a settlement with the Plaintiff if that’s your desire. Sellers ought to be aware, though, that by doing that they may be opening themselves up to a hefty amount of loss. The majority of direct settlements in trademark infringement cases lose about half their frozen money. That’s what General Motors will require from you. As a result, it will probably benefit any of the named sellers to hire their own intellectual property attorney! 

A temporary restraining order can place an online selling business in a difficult situation. Money may have already been tight. By freezing assets, General Motors could throw some of the Defendants into the realm of bankruptcy. Is that fair or reasonable? No matter, because of the reality of the restraining order, sellers will have to take some type of action in response. 

Respond to the General Motors Lawsuit!

Speaking of responses, it’s necessary that the Defendants reply to the lawsuit! It’s not a matter that will vanish independent of your actions. Essentially, if you don’t respond and ignore the allegations made against your business, you could face even worse financial pressures by way of a Default Judgment. Maintain the strength of your online selling business by simply responding. That’s imperative! And, read through the claims of counterfeiting, as seen in the legal complaint. By assessing your options for settlements, responding on time, and addressing the allegations you’ll come out of the situation in a way that allows you to continue your business. 

Are you not sure how to respond to the General Motors lawsuit? Or, do you not have the time or bandwidth to deal with the details of the case? Perhaps you’re not a skilled legal negotiator or someone who readily understands the United States legal system. You don’t need to! Just hire an intellectual property attorney! 

Schedule A General Motors Case

In fact, this General Motors lawsuit is a Schedule A lawsuit. That term boils down to a style of lawsuit that allows the Plaintiff to sue a bunch of sellers in one go. By handling the matter this way, General Motors can potentially directly settle with the bulk of the sellers. And, from there, collect back what they “on information and belief” state is the loss they’ve absorbed because of counterfeiting. In the past few years, Schedule A infringement cases have increased in the US. Major brands and companies like General Motors rely on these lawsuits to halt infringement and regain supposed losses via settlements. For sellers, to negotiate the most beneficial settlement or resolution, they can rely on a lawyer.

GM Claims Counterfeiting by Online Sellers

Here are some of the General Motors allegations of trademark infringement:

Defendants are working in active concert to knowingly and willfully manufacture, import, distribute, offer for sale, and sell Counterfeit GM Products in the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences. Defendants, without any authorization or license from GM, have jointly and severally, knowingly and willfully used and continue to use the GM Trademarks in connection with the advertisement, distribution, offering for sale, and sale of the Counterfeit GM Products into the United States and Illinois over the Internet. 

Counterfeiters such as Defendants typically operate under multiple seller aliases and payment accounts so that they can continue operation in spite of GM’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 GM.

Even though Defendants operate under multiple fictitious aliases, the e-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases often share unique identifiers, such as templates with common design elements that intentionally omit any contact information or other information for identifying Defendants or other Seller Aliases they operate or use. 

This is a trademark infringement action against Defendants based on their unauthorized use in commerce of counterfeit imitations of the federally registered GM Trademarks in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, and/or advertising of infringing goods. 

If your business is being affected by the General Motors infringement lawsuit, contact our team at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC today for a free consultation!

Download the legal complaint below:

Up next we will be discussing the Hasbro Federal Infringement Lawsuit.