Trademark Lawsuit: General Motors Claims Counterfeit
More trademark infringement allegations have been filed against online sellers! Indeed, General Motors has filed a federal lawsuit in the state of Illinois. General Motors’ contention is that e-commerce sellers formed a network amongst themselves and sold counterfeit products.
The accusations are definitely real and serious! But as is, even though the lawsuit is based on allegations only, the Defendants will need to respond to the lawsuit. Curious about what the allegations are exactly? You can find all of that information in the legal complaint. Not all of the allegations will apply to every single seller. But, as a Defendant you should read through them.
General Motors Trademark Infringement Action
Let’s take a look at a few of the allegations of trademark infringement. Again, not all of these claims of counterfeiting will be relevant to every seller listed on the lawsuit’s Schedule A. In any event, they could be applicable to your e-commerce business. So set time aside to read the complaint in full (downloadable at the bottom of this article):
This is a trademark infringement action against Defendants based on their unauthorized use in commerce of counterfeit imitations of the federally registered GM Trademarks in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, and/or advertising of infringing goods. The GM Trademarks are highly distinctive marks. Consumers have come to expect the highest quality from GM Products sold or marketed under the GM Trademarks.
Defendants have sold, offered to sell, marketed, distributed, and advertised, and are still selling, offering to sell, marketing, distributing, and advertising products using counterfeit reproductions of the GM Trademarks without GM’s permission.
Defendants’ unauthorized use of the GM Trademarks in connection with the advertising, distribution, offering for sale, and sale of Counterfeit GM Products, including the sale of Counterfeit GM Products into the United States, including Illinois, is likely to cause and has caused confusion, mistake, and deception by and among consumers and is irreparably harming GM.
Intellectual Property Infringement: General Motors Trademark Lawsuit
Because General Motors has formed the belief that intellectual property infringement occurred, the brand will go ahead with getting the court to approve a temporary injunction. Commonly referred to as a temporary restraining order, this injunction will be approved with the intent to stop the sellers from more counterfeiting.
In a word, this is the whole purpose of the lawsuit! General Motors wants to cease all trademark infringement from happening due to the loss of revenue and damage to their reputation. Precisely what’s the next step after the injunction takes effect? Your online selling accounts will be frozen, unfortunately. That means you won’t be able to touch the money in the account, which can be a major disruption.
Along with being a major disruption, the temporary restraining order may put your business at risk of bankruptcy. Online sellers need every bit of cash flow that they have to both operate and thrive. Having that financial access denied, even for a temporary period, is a big deal! The restraining order can affect both earnings generated by General Motors products, as well as different branded goods. Now, due to this frustrating dilemma, sellers may feel pressured to go the way of a direct settlement. It’s even likely that the Plaintiff will make an attempt to settle with sellers.
Responding to the GM Lawsuit, Settlements, Resolutions
The reason why you may find a direct settlement appealing is because it may have a quick turnaround. While that could be true, if you don’t work with an attorney the chances of you getting to keep your money are diminished. According to trends in the intellectual property field, online sellers who attempt direct settlements usually walk away with 60% of their frozen funds. We don’t want to see you lose just about half of your hard-earned money and we’d venture to guess that you wouldn’t either! When you retain one of our IP attorneys, we can give you the greatest chance at keeping the maximum amount of your money. When you decide to work with one of our lawyers at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC, we’ll do all we can to ensure you receive a fair outcome!
The General Motors trademark infringement action aimed at online sellers isn’t outside the realm of what e-commerce operators regularly experience. We’ve covered many, many such lawsuits on our blog in the past, and the content of this one is not exactly unique. In fact, much of the allegations laid out in this lawsuit are nearly identical to other federal Schedule A suits. Which is why you may be getting sued in the first place! Lots of counterfeit lawsuits are filed against sellers who use popular marketplace platforms. These include Walmart, Amazon, Etsy, eBay, DHgate, Wish.com, Alibaba, and more.
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 Harley-Davidson Intellectual Property Lawsuit.
