Toyota Infringement Counterfeit Lawsuit
Another Toyota counterfeit lawsuit has been filed in Illinois federal court. Like many such Schedule A infringement lawsuits, this one alleges that a group of e-commerce sellers sold unauthorized Toyota products to consumers in the United States. The Toyota brand believes, based on information they’ve gathered, that the identified sellers didn’t have the legal right to sell the goods in question. The infringement on the Plaintiff’s intellectual property is the reason why the brand filed the lawsuit. And, it’s now the responsibility of the named sellers to appropriately respond to the court!
When sellers are notified that a major brand is suing them for trademark infringement, they may be intimidated. Which totally makes sense! When processing the news of the lawsuit, some sellers may toss around the idea of not responding. That’s usually a very bad approach to take! Even though you may be frustrated, scared, or confused, that’s no reason for inaction. It’s almost a requirement that the named sellers respond to the court. If it so happens that you’re not confident in your own ability to respond, that’s ok. Our team of attorneys can work with you to draft and submit the proper response on your behalf.
Toyota and the Temporary Restraining Order
Following the initial filing of the lawsuit, Toyota will go ahead and request that the court approve a temporary restraining order. Brands suing for trademark infringement do this to stop what they believe is an overwhelming amount of counterfeiting. Per the Plaintiff, the actions of the named sellers have cost Toyota money and negatively affected the brand’s reputation. What does the TRO mean for the Defendants? Unfortunately, once the restraining order is approved and in effect, sellers’ online accounts will be frozen. Does that mean you won’t have access to the money in those accounts? Yes, in fact that’s precisely what it means. While the injunction is temporary, it can still have a substantial impact on a seller’s e-commerce business.
At the point when sellers are dealing with the TRO, some may wish to reach a direct settlement with the Plaintiff. This is an available option that any of the Defendants can pursue, but they may lose money in the process. When negotiating with a brand like Toyota without an attorney, sellers typically walk away with around half of the frozen funds in their seller account. It’s truly less than what you deserve! Ultimately, our attorneys don’t want you to unnecessarily lose money. And, when you retain an intellectual property lawyer, you’ll greatly improve your chances at getting a fair resolution.
Stockman & Poropat, PLLC Can Develop a Legal Solution For You!
The lawyers on our team at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC have successfully developed legal solutions for e-commerce sellers across the globe. When it comes to intellectual property infringement lawsuits, we’ve got a broad range of experience. We want to acknowledge that our legal services when it comes to such lawsuits extends beyond the legalities. We pride ourselves on being empathetic with our clients because we know how much this kind of situation can rattle an online business. And, to be sure, in terms of guilt, we’d like to stress that none of the named sellers are guilty of the allegations, per se. As of the writing of this article, the degree of responsibility will vary from seller to seller. No matter the particulars of your e-commerce operation, we’d like to help you navigate the lawsuit so you can continue on your path as a world-class online seller!
Toyota’s Allegations of Counterfeit and Trademark Infringement
Toyota’s allegations of counterfeit and trademark infringement include a variety of claims. Below is a selection of the allegations, taken right from the legal complaint:
Defendants concurrently employ and benefit from substantially similar advertising and marketing strategies. For example, Defendants facilitate sales of Counterfeit Toyota Products 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 appear 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.
On information and belief, Toyota has not licensed or authorized Defendants to use any of the Toyota Trademarks, and none of the Defendants are authorized retailers of genuine Toyota Products.
By using the Toyota Trademarks in connection with the sale of Counterfeit Toyota Products, Defendants create a false designation of origin and a misleading representation of fact as to the origin and sponsorship of the Counterfeit Toyota Products.
Contact our team at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC today for a free initial consultation!
Download the legal complaint below:
Up next we will be discussing the NSI International Infringement Lawsuit.
