Nike Trademark Infringement | Online Sellers Sued

Your favorite athletic footwear brand, Nike, is yet again suing online sellers for selling counterfeit products! Just like we’ve seen in previous Nike Schedule A lawsuits, this latest one alleges that sellers infringed on trademarks. Why did the sellers do as Nike claims? Per the Plaintiff, they were cashing in on the longstanding value of the Nike trademarks. 

As you may be aware, when a trademark infringement lawsuit is filed by Nike or any other brand, typically what follows is a temporary restraining order. Nike will request that the court approve of a temporary injunction so they can put a stop to counterfeit sales. The sale of unauthorized Nike products has led the brand to pursue legal action due to the damage they’ve sustained. The Plaintiff specifies that the actions of the Defendants have compelled them to address the infringement. And, so here we are! 

Unfortunately for the named sellers, guilty or innocent of the allegations, they’ll certainly feel the temporary restraining order. That’s because, practically speaking, the TRO freezes online seller accounts. To effectively halt the sale of additional, potentially-counterfeit goods, the freeze will affect the money in those accounts. E-commerce operators will be prevented from accessing the money they earned from selling Nike products. It’s a possibility that the sellers may also be blocked from touching other money in their accounts.

How Nike’s Temporary Restraining Order Can Harm Your Business

Having a restraining order, even if temporary, levied against your e-commerce operation can really put a strain on your business. Obviously, in order to operate you need capital! And this Nike trademark infringement lawsuit won’t resolve itself on its own. You need to act in response to the lawsuit. Quite literally. The Defendants in this case need to provide a response to the court regarding the allegations. As a named seller, you’ll want to respond in a timely fashion. So that you don’t get a Default Judgment issued against your business. 

Stockman & Poropat, PLLC can help protect your e-commerce business and save you time and money! 

Are you worried about how you’re going to communicate and/or reach a resolution with the Plaintiff? Nike is a gargantuan company with virtually endless resources. Most likely, the Defendants they’re suing in this infringement lawsuit don’t possess the same resources. Though, that doesn’t mean you’re up the creek, necessarily. Working with our attorneys at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC will give you the greatest breadth of options when it comes to resolving this legal matter! Did you know that the average direct settlement amount with brands in Schedule A lawsuits is only 60%? You’d only get to keep, roughly, that percentage of the money in your seller accounts. Now, if you want to explore all of the legal avenues available to you, we’d be more than pleased to assist! 

What Nike Alleges the Defendants Engaged In… Nike Trademark Infringement | Online Sellers Sued

To provide readers and/or affected sellers with more information about this Nike trademark infringement lawsuit, let’s turn to a few selections from the legal complaint:

The success of Plaintiff’s brand has resulted in significant counterfeiting of Plaintiff’s Trademarks. In recent years, Plaintiff has identified many fully interactive, e- commerce stores offering Counterfeit Products on online marketplace platforms such as Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Alibaba, Walmart, Wish.com, Etsy, Temu, DHgate, and TikTok, including the e-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases.

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. Nike has not licensed or authorized Defendants to use any of the Nike Trademarks, and none of the Defendants are authorized retailers of genuine Nike Products.

Many Defendants also deceive unknowing consumers by using the Nike Trademarks without authorization within the content, text, and/or meta tags of their online marketplace listings to drive traffic away from Nike authorized channels, but instead to their own infringing sites. Other e-commerce stores operating under Seller Aliases omit using Nike 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 Nike Products. 

Stockman & Poropat, PLLC Can Develop a Legal Strategy for You!

We want to stress that every seller’s e-commerce business is distinct in its identity and practices. While the lawsuit and associated restraining order will equally impact all of the Defendants, the legal solutions for each seller will not be identical. 

What you need is a legal solution particular to your online selling operation and Stockman & Poropat, PLLC can deliver just that! Our team uses a highly-communicative and friendly approach when working with our clients, because we understand how tense this type of situation can be. Our aim is to make sure you get what you deserve in terms of this latest Nike trademark infringement lawsuit.

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 newest Daimler Trademark Infringement Action.