Billion-Dollar Automotive Giant Sues for Counterfeiting | FCA Infringement Lawsuit

FCA US LLC is suing online sellers for trademark infringement! FCA is the automotive corporation that’s associated with Chrysler, Fiat, Dodge, Jeep, Maserati, and other companies. The Plaintiff is a global billion-dollar corporation. As such, they place a high value on their various trademarks for all sorts of vehicle parts, accessories, and logos. 

The longstanding reputation and popularity of FCA brands and products is largely why the corporation is susceptible to counterfeiting. According to the Plaintiff, “FCA Products have become among the most popular of their kind in the U.S. and the world. The FCA Trademarks have achieved tremendous fame and recognition which has only added to the distinctiveness of the marks. As such, the goodwill associated with the FCA Trademarks is of incalculable and inestimable value to FCA.” 

Any corporation worth billions of dollars will likely have their intellectual property infringed on. When these companies decide that enough is enough, a lawsuit ensues. FCA is suing e-commerce businesses. Specifically, those who’ve sold unauthorized, counterfeit products to consumers in the United States. 

Online Sellers Are Hit With a Temporary Restraining Order | FCA Trademark Infringement

Are you one of the Defendants in this case? You’ll want to take the lawsuit extremely seriously! Anyone who chooses to ignore the lawsuit or disregard its allegations may be making a mistake. A temporary restraining order was placed on your seller account. You may already know that. That’s going to prevent you from accessing the money your business generated from selling any FCA products. To ignore or disregard the lawsuit is to forfeit the frozen money in your account. It will go to the Plaintiff. Moreover, walking away might result in a Default Judgment. That’s when the court declares that you’ll have to pay FCA an additional amount to compensate for damages. We want to convey that forfeiture of your money and a Default Judgment are avoidable outcomes! Online sellers named in the lawsuit can take legal action of their own and resolve the matter on better terms. 

The FCA lawsuit was filed in Illinois as a Schedule A case. This type of lawsuit gives FCA and other brands like it the ability to sue loads of alleged counterfeiters at the same time. Part of the reason they do this is because the corporation believes there has been legitimate rampant infringement on their trademarks. And, by naming so many Defendants at once, the Plaintiff then has the option to reach settlements with as many sellers as they can. 

Settlements Can Work, But Are They The Only Option?

Sellers may be enticed by the settlement offer made by FCA. It’s a relatively fast process, doesn’t entail any additional effort, and resolves the issue. Although, settlements don’t necessarily work out in the sellers’ favor. It’s been documented that sellers who settle with corporations in Schedule A lawsuits typically get to keep just 60% of their frozen assets. Between the initial restraining order and the settlement, taking this route can bankrupt your online business. If not, no doubt you will suffer a significant loss. And again, this is not the only possible outcome! Any one of the Defendants may retain an intellectual property attorney and pursue their own legal action against the Plaintiff in response to the lawsuit. 

Why use the aid of an attorney? So that you can either clear up the allegations of wrongdoing and/or keep a bigger percentage of your money. The money you already earned! The nature of a Schedule A lawsuit doesn’t really account for each Defendant’s individual business practices. The allegations are rather sweeping and all-encompassing – treating each online seller as part of a group. With an attorney on your side, you may illuminate the precise details necessary to clear yourself of the allegations of infringement, if applicable. Either way, your lawyer can work with the Plaintiff and develop a solution that works in your favor. It’s absolutely worth the investment of time and money because that’s what you’ll save! 

FCA Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Allegations

An excerpt of the allegations detailed in the legal complaint read as follows:

Defendants are individuals and business entities of unknown makeup who own and/or operate one or more of the e-commerce stores under at least the Seller Aliases identified on Schedule A and/or other seller aliases not yet known to Plaintiff. On information and belief, Defendants reside and/or operate in the People’s Republic of China or other foreign jurisdictions, or redistribute products from the same or similar sources in those locations. 

Defendants also deceive unknowing consumers by using one or more FCA Trademarks without authorization within the content, text, and/or meta-tags of their e-commerce stores to attract various search engines crawling the Internet looking for websites relevant to consumer searches for FCA Products. Other e-commerce stores operating under Seller Aliases omit using FCA 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 FCA Products. 

Counterfeiters such as Defendants typically operate under multiple seller aliases and payment accounts so that they can continue operation in spite of Plaintiff’s enforcement. E- commerce store operators like Defendants maintain off-shore bank accounts and regularly move funds from their financial accounts to off-shore accounts outside the jurisdiction of this Court to avoid payment of any monetary judgment awarded to Plaintiff. 

Respond to the Court, Look Into Your Options, Consult With an Attorney

To recap, if you’re one of the Defendants in the FCA trademark infringement lawsuit, respond to the court! Rather than accepting a settlement from the Plaintiff, look into what legal actions you’re entitled to take by consulting with an attorney. The damage caused by these allegations of counterfeiting can threaten your online business. It’s imperative that you acknowledge the seriousness of the lawsuit and its existence. If you can, invest in figuring out the best available resolution so that you can move forward and continue your success as an online seller! 

Have questions about the FCA infringement lawsuit or any other related topic? Contact our team at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC today! The consultation is free. We look forward to speaking with you! 

Download the legal complaint below:

Up next we will be discussing the Marshall Trademark Infringement lawsuit.