Online Sellers Sued For IP Infringement by Supreme Brand

Supreme, the world famous streetwear brand that started as a small skateboard shop, is suing online sellers for trademark infringement! This federal Schedule A infringement lawsuit was filed by Supreme. To combat what they believe has been rampant counterfeit sales online. 

Supreme’s allegations of trademark infringement are described in the legal complaint associated with the case. Here, we’ll share a few portions of the language from that legal complaint. This is meant to offer a few details regarding the claims of IP infringement: 

Plaintiff has identified many fully interactive, e- commerce stores offering Counterfeit Products on online marketplace platforms such as Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Alibaba, Wish.com, DHgate, Etsy, Temu, TikTok, and Walmart, including the e-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases. The Seller Aliases target consumers in this Judicial District and throughout the United States.

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

This is a trademark infringement action against Defendants based on their unauthorized use in commerce of counterfeit imitations of the federally registered SUPREME Trademarks in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, and/or advertising of infringing goods. The SUPREME Trademarks are highly distinctive marks. Consumers have come to expect the highest quality from Supreme Products offered, sold, or marketed under the SUPREME Trademarks. 

Defendants in Supreme Lawsuit Need to Respond!

Defendants named in this Supreme trademark lawsuit need to provide a response! Don’t mistakenly believe that this lawsuit isn’t real. Or, that there won’t be any negative consequences for ignoring its reality. The status of your e-commerce operation depends on how you handle these intellectual property allegations. And if you know or are strongly of the opinion that you haven’t done what the Plaintiff alleges you did? You should still respond. Most sellers won’t want to deal with the complications that can come from a lack of response. Which, mainly, manifests in the form of a Default Judgment. When the court issues such a judgment, the sellers will have to spend even more money and the decision is often final.

The Plaintiff is suing the Defendants as a group, because they’ve identified them as a counterfeit network. Which means, Supreme is of the belief that the online sellers have collectively interacted so as to form relationships that allow them to sell unauthorized products. The Plaintiff alleges that consumers are unknowingly fooled by certain digital and visual strategies employed by the named sellers. If you’re one of the Defendants, and you don’t know any of the other named sellers, you’ll still be affected by the lawsuit. No matter the actual relation between the Defendants, the suit ties the sellers all together as a network, so the allegations apply to the entire list of sellers named. 

How Is the Supreme Trademark Lawsuit Going to Affect E-Commerce Businesses?

How’s the Supreme trademark infringement lawsuit going to affect your business? Commonly, the main impact of these types of intellectual property cases comes in the form of a temporary restraining order. Supreme claims in the legal complaint that the actions of the sellers have cost their brand money and hurt their reputation. To address that damage, Supreme will seek to have the court approve of a restraining order. That injunction will freeze the sellers’ online accounts and the funds in them. The money the restraining order affects is largely that earned from selling Supreme goods. The temporary restraining order may also apply to money generated from the sale of products that aren’t Supreme, as well. 

Because the restraining order in effect blocks sellers from accessing the money they earned, it can put e-commerce operations in a tricky position. Depending on the financial health of your business prior to the lawsuit, the effect of it on online sellers will be wide-ranging. Which brings us to the subject of settlements. Some sellers getting sued for infringement want to settle directly with Plaintiffs. That’s within your rights as a Defendant, but on average sellers get only 60% of the money in their frozen accounts when they take this path. 

At Stockman & Poropat, PLLC, we want to see you get the most reasonable outcome possible! Which is why we leverage our unmatched depth of experience in this particular area of the law. We’ve served e-commerce businesses based all around the world. We pride ourselves on being empathetic, extremely communicative, and driven when it comes to solving trademark infringement issues. Our attorneys and team know that saving time and money is of the utmost importance! 

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 Cure Trademark Infringement Lawsuit (Merch Traffic, LLC).