Online Sellers Get Sued by Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger

Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger are in the process of suing online sellers! Why are these apparel giants going after e-commerce sellers via the legal system? The Plaintiffs have alleged that online sellers engaged in counterfeiting and trademark infringement. Per Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, sellers sold infringing goods on multiple online platforms to consumers in the United States. 

In the event that you’re one of the sellers being sued, you may not know how to act. Primarily, you’ll want to look into getting an intellectual property attorney! By now, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger have initiated a temporary restraining order by way of the court system. That restraining order has undoubtedly impacted your online business. You’ve been barred from touching the money in your selling account. Until the Defendants take their own action, they’ll be subject to the negative effects of this trademark infringement lawsuit. 

The restraining order that Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger has put on your seller accounts can be extremely disruptive. Online sellers rely on the flow of capital that comes through their accounts to continue their operation. Depending on each sellers’ financial situation, the depth of the restraining order’s impact can be major. By having an attorney, you can more effectively address the lawsuit and get back to selling products as usual. 

What Settlement Options Are Available?

Part of the “Schedule A” infringement lawsuit process may involve direct settlements. The Plaintiff may use the leverage they have due to the restraining order to settle with the Defendants. Perhaps you’re a seller who has already considered taking this route. What ought you to include in your decision-making process? The fact that the majority of such settlements are unfavorable to online sellers. And if you retain an attorney to negotiate with the Plaintiff on your behalf? Any settlement you may wish to agree to will likely be more substantial. That is, compared to if you attempted to do it on your own. 

Based on Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger’s allegations, sellers have offered infringing products on several online marketplaces. These include Temu, DHgate, Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, Walmart, Etsy, Wish.com, and others. If you haven’t taken action on your own already, you’ll need to start with consulting with a lawyer! If your goal as a seller is to preserve your resources and protect your business, that’s your best bet. Indeed, this is a federal trademark infringement lawsuit – not a small issue by any means. The affected sellers must take this situation seriously and respond to the lawsuit. Do you truly want to understand the intricacies of the lawsuit and your options? Speak with an attorney as soon as you can. 

Respond, Negotiate, Develop a Legal Strategy

The Defendants may find that an intellectual property attorney will lay out the entire game plan for them. Starting with the response to the lawsuit, any potential options for negotiation with the Plaintiff, proving the legitimate identity of their business and/or its owners, and more. At each turn, your lawyer will likely be a beneficial asset. The gravity of the lawsuit, being that it’s federal and has affected your money and business, requires an equal response by the sellers. While investing in an attorney costs money, the outcome for you and your business may be more robust than if you handled it without one. A well thought-out legal strategy devised by an attorney with proven experiential knowledge of such cases is what sellers really need. 

Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger Claim Trademark Infringement | Retain a Lawyer For Better Outcomes

Some of the allegations made by Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger read as follows:

E-commerce stores operating under Seller Aliases omit using Plaintiffs’ 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 Plaintiffs’ Products.

E-commerce store operators like Defendants regularly register or acquire new seller aliases for the purpose of offering for sale and selling Counterfeit Products. Such seller alias registration patterns are one of many common tactics used by e-commerce store operators like Defendants to conceal their identities and the full scope and interworking of their counterfeiting operation, and to avoid being shut down.

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.

E-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases include other notable common features such as use of the same registration patterns, accepted payment methods, check-out methods, keywords, advertising tactics, similarities in price and quantities, the same incorrect grammar and misspellings, and/or the use of the same text and images. Additionally, 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. 

Any seller named in this lawsuit should reach out to our team at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC today for a free consultation!

Download the legal complaint below:

Up next we will be discussing the latest Fear of God Federal Infringement Lawsuit.