MUFC Trademark Infringement | Man United Sues Online Sellers

The internationally popular Manchester United Football Club (MUFC), known as Man United, has filed a federal lawsuit for trademark infringement. Man United is one of the top football clubs in the world. MUFC also sells branded athletic apparel, accessories, and more, which are trademark protected. Having perceived large-scale counterfeit sales of Man United products, the Plaintiff decided to sue online sellers for infringement. 

The sellers named in the lawsuit may be curious how the lawsuit will affect their online business. Principally, the Defendants will have to deal with a temporary restraining order (TRO). After receiving approval by the court, the TRO will prohibit the sellers from accessing their online seller accounts. That does indeed include the money in those accounts, as well. Any money you’ve earned from selling Man United products will be frozen. Each seller will address the reality of the lawsuit and the restraining order in different ways. Overall, if a seller wishes to manage the situation in a practical manner, they should retain an intellectual property attorney! 

MUFC Files Schedule A Infringement Lawsuit

We should point out that this is a Schedule A infringement lawsuit. That means MUFC has the power to claim counterfeiting by several sellers within the scope of one single lawsuit. The alternative would be if the Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against each seller individually. There are a few advantageous reasons why major brands choose to file Schedule A lawsuits. Chief among those reasons? It allows the Plaintiff to more successfully recover the money they allegedly lost because of the trademark infringement. How is that, exactly? Through direct settlements reached between the owner of the intellectual property and the accused seller. 

As a seller impacted by the MUFC lawsuit, you may want to settle with the Plaintiff directly so you can move on as quickly as possible. You’re totally entitled to make that kind of decision. What we want you to know is that an overwhelming percentage of direct settlements in Schedule A lawsuits grant sellers only around 60% of the money in their accounts. That’s more than half of the money you yourself earned from selling products online! Should MUFC or any other brand be given such a large share of your money? Especially after they’ve accused you of doing something wrong? Perhaps not. If you rely on the experience of an intellectual property attorney, you’re more likely to develop a better overall solution. 

Have an Attorney Negotiate on Your Behalf

Your lawyer can enter into negotiations on behalf of you and your business. You won’t have to worry about it. An attorney can also provide the required response to the lawsuit. Did you know that once you’ve been notified of the suit that you need to submit a response? That’s absolutely necessary! Furthermore, by responding you can make sure you won’t have to contend with a Default Judgment down the road. Now, we are aware that for some sellers this MUFC lawsuit will place them in a tough spot on the financial side of things. Initially, you may not see the need to spend more money on hiring an attorney. But, the cost of retaining an intellectual property lawyer now and handling the lawsuit correctly the first time will actually save you money! 

If you’re frustrated by the Man United trademark infringement lawsuit, you have every right to be. To those sellers who are frightened by what the lawsuit and/or the allegations mean for their business, we get that, too. However, by informing yourself about the claims of counterfeit and hiring an attorney you’ll be able to navigate this legal situation in a professional, productive manner. 

Man United’s Allegations of Trademark Infringement

The following represents a selection of Man United’s allegations of trademark infringement:

Defendants also deceive unknowing consumers by using the MUFC 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 MUFC Products. Other e-commerce stores operating under Seller Aliases omit using the MUFC 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 MUFC Products.

E-commerce store operators like Defendants commonly engage in fraudulent conduct when registering the Seller Aliases by providing false, misleading, and/or incomplete information to e-commerce platforms to prevent discovery of their true identities and the scope of their e-commerce operation.

E-commerce store operators like Defendants are in constant communication with each other and regularly participate in QQ.com chat rooms and through websites such as sellerdefense.cn and kuajingvs.com regarding tactics for operating multiple accounts, evading detection, pending litigation, and potential new lawsuits.

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. 

Do you need help because your business has been sued by Manchester United for trademark infringement? Contact our team at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC for a free consultation today!  

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