Trademark Infringement Lawsuit: Collegiate Licensing Company Sues Sellers

The Collegiate Licensing Company has filed a new trademark infringement lawsuit in federal court! CLC alleges that a group of online sellers have worked together to sell counterfeit goods to consumers. Is this a tricky legal situation? Not necessarily, though it depends on the activities of your e-commerce operation. Are the Defendants without recourse now that they’ve been named in a lawsuit? Not at all! In fact, since legal action has been taken against you, it’s now time for you to do the same. Hire our intellectual property attorneys at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC today!  

Here’s how the lawsuit is going to go down, more or less. Since the suit is fairly new, as of today’s date, most of the Defendants will be notified. Each online seller named in the lawsuit will be made aware that CLC is suing them for trademark infringement. After notifications have been made, the Defendants will have an opportunity to read through the legal complaint. That complaint describes all of the Plaintiff’s allegations regarding intellectual property infringement. In a short amount of time, CLC will get the court to approve a temporary restraining order. 

CLC, like other brands that file Schedule A infringement lawsuits, wants to stop the sale of counterfeit products online. That’s why the Plaintiff will seek a restraining order. The main function of the injunction is to freeze the sellers’ online accounts. Once the accounts are frozen, the Defendants won’t have the opportunity to access their accounts or the money in them. Isn’t it true that CLC has only asserted allegations of infringement? Yes! That’s enough for the court to impose a restraining order on the Defendants’ accounts. 

E-Commerce Operators May Wish to Retain Legal Counsel!

As it happens, the Defendants might want to consider not using an attorney. Perhaps you’re a seller and you believe that you can negotiate with CLC yourself. That’s not a fantasy, per se, but negotiating a direct settlement with a major brand may not benefit the Defendants. In the majority of cases, sellers who try to directly settle with Plaintiffs are awarded only 60% of the money in their online accounts. Our team at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC is dedicated to getting sellers the most favorable resolution possible! Work with us and we’ll invest our experience and energy into getting you the outcome you absolutely deserve. 

Will the temporary restraining order imposed on sellers by CLC only affect specific income? Well, typically restraining orders in trademark infringement lawsuits apply to money earned from selling the Plaintiff’s products. However, it’s also possible that the injunction can impact your other earnings – revenue generated from selling other products. It’s really not an ideal predicament! The seriousness of the CLC lawsuit should be clear. And, as a serious legal matter, sellers ought to treat the lawsuit with a measure of respect. 

Be sure to respond to the CLC lawsuit. Those sellers who don’t provide a response may make themselves a target for a Default Judgment. That’s more complicated than a settlement, in that once the court issues the judgment, it’s likely not able to be overturned. This conclusion could also add up to more money for any given Defendant. So if you’re concerned about the financial future of your e-commerce operation, in light of the CLC lawsuit, best to consult with an attorney and figure out your options. 

Collegiate Licensing Company Allegations of Counterfeit Sales

As you touched on, the allegations and the details related to the claims of counterfeiting are included in the legal complaint. We shall now turn to several excerpts from the complaint in order to share a fuller picture of the CLC lawsuit:

The fame of CLC Protected Trademarks and affiliated variety of licensed products, including apparel, hats, jewelry, toys, furniture, pennants, and bags, among others (collectively, the “Genuine CLC Products”), has resulted in significant counterfeiting of CLC Protected Trademarks. In addition to other significant enforcement measures, CLC is a member of the Coalition to Advance the Protection of Sports Logos (“CAPS”), which is administered by Trademark Management LLC.

CAPS, on behalf of its members, including CLC, has identified numerous fully interactive e-commerce stores on online marketplace platforms such as eBay, Inc. (“eBay”), AliExpress, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., and Alibaba.com Singapore E-Commerce Private Limited (collectively “Alibaba”), Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon”), Wish US Holdings LLC (“Wish.com”), Etsy, Inc. (“Etsy), DHgate.com (“DHgate”), WhaleCo Inc. (“Temu”), ByteDance Ltd., TikTok Ltd., TikTok Inc., and TikTok LLC (collectively “TikTok”) and Walmart, Inc. (“Walmart”), including the e- commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases.

Defendants, without any authorization or license from Plaintiff or the CLC University Clients, have knowingly and willfully used and continue to use one or more CLC Protected Trademarks in connection with the advertisement, distribution, offering for sale, and/or sale of the Counterfeit Products into the United States and Illinois over the Internet. 

Have questions about the latest Collegiate Licensing Company trademark infringement lawsuit? Stockman & Poropat, PLLC is here to help!

Contact our team at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC today for a free initial consultation! 

Download the legal complaint below: