Harley-Davidson Intellectual Property Lawsuit | Trademark Action
What’s arguably the most famous motorcycle company in the world? Harley-Davidson. We’re not just here to talk about the iconic brand. This article is about Harley-Davidson’s new trademark infringement lawsuit, which is going to affect multiple online sellers! Though the lawsuit is based on allegations, yet to be proven, the lawsuit isn’t something to ignore. Indeed, if any of the Defendants decide not to address the lawsuit, they could steep themselves into an even more troublesome situation.
If you’ve sold Harley-Davidson products on platforms like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, DHgate, Etsy, and similar sites, that’s part of why you’re getting sued. Trademark infringement lawsuits are quite often filed against e-commerce operators who use popular selling platforms. Sometimes the lawsuit’s allegations are accurate to the activity of the seller, other times perhaps not. Each seller’s activity on various e-commerce platforms is distinct unto itself, which is why retaining an attorney for a lawsuit such as this is super helpful!
What’s the Big Deal About Infringement Allegations?
So what’s the big deal about some intellectual property infringement allegations? Maybe on their own the claims aren’t a huge deal, but because they’ve been filed as part of a lawsuit by Harley-Davidson, it’s going to impact your e-commerce operation. As with many Schedule A infringement suits, the Plaintiff will get the court to issue a temporary restraining order! What’re the implications of the injunction? That all of the Defendants’ seller accounts will be frozen, including the money in those accounts. Now, that is for sure a big deal!
The temporary restraining order is frequently seen in infringement lawsuits because brands want to prevent more counterfeiting. Harley-Davidson’s intention is to protect their intellectual property as they see fit. The injunction speaks to that concern, even though not all sellers are necessarily equally responsible for the counterfeiting. That’s the format for this sort of infringement lawsuit.
Harley-Davidson Claims Counterfeit
A brand like Harley-Davidson documents, “based on information and belief,” sellers who sold unauthorized products online. Following that, the Plaintiff determines that the “unlawful” actions of a group of sellers caused damage to their brand. Not only did the sellers allegedly do this, Harley-Davidson also says they cost them money.
And, that’s the reason for the temporary restraining order! Until a resolution is reached in some manner, sellers won’t have access to the money in their seller accounts. That could be money earned from selling Harley-Davidson goods, it could also be money that came from other products.
The restraining order can cause a significant hiccup in the flow of your online business. In some cases, it can even result in bankruptcy – depending on the amount of money frozen in your seller accounts. Like any business, an e-commerce operation requires funds to thrive. You need access to your money! That’s a given. So, once the restraining order is in play, how do you get it removed?
Stockman & Poropat, PLLC Can Help Your Online Business
There are several ways for the Defendants to address the temporary restraining order. Stockman & Poropat, PLLC advises sellers to utilize an attorney, rather than attempt to settle directly with Harley-Davidson. We say this because some sellers may want to reach a fast direct settlement so they can move on with their business. Understandably, sellers want to get out of the situation as quickly as they can. While we know that this is a legitimate desire for some, we want to communicate to all that direct settlements can mean forfeiting a not-so-small chunk of your frozen money! We don’t believe it’s fair if sellers are walking away from the Harley-Davidson infringement suit with just 60% of their money. Which is what’s likely to happen! For those who become our clients, our team will work tirelessly to get you an equitable resolution.
Harley-Davidson’s Allegations of Trademark Infringement
Sellers affected by the Harley-Davidson lawsuit need to respond to the court! Anyone who doesn’t might be slapped with a Default Judgment. Regarding the Plaintiff’s allegations, they can be seen in the legal complaint. Let’s dive into a portion of the claims below, for further context:
Third party service providers like those used by Defendants do not adequately subject new sellers to verification and confirmation of their identities, allowing counterfeiters to “routinely use false or inaccurate names and addresses when registering with these e-commerce platforms.” Counterfeiters hedge against the risk of being caught and having their websites taken down from an e-commerce platform by preemptively establishing multiple virtual storefronts…”
Defendants also deceive unknowing consumers by using the HARLEY-DAVIDSON Trademarks without authorization within the context, 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 Harley-Davidson Products. Other e-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases omit using HARLEY-DAVIDSON 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 Harley-Davidson Products.
E-commerce store operators like Defendants commonly engage in fraudulent conduct when registering the Seller Aliases by providing false, misleading, and/or incomplete information to e-commerce platforms to prevent discovery of their true identities and the scope of their e-commerce operation.
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 Amorepacific Trademark Infringement Lawsuit.
