Trademark Infringement | NBA Claims Counterfeiting
Any online sellers who’ve sold NBA branded products may have received notice of a lawsuit. It’s a trademark infringement lawsuit, to be exact. And, the case was filed in Illinois – a jurisdiction that has seen a dramatic increase in counterfeit lawsuits like this over the last several years.
The legal complaint associated with the case states:
Plaintiff is a member of the Coalition to Advance the Protection of Sports logos (“CAPS”), which is administered by Trademark Management LLC (“TML”). In collaboration with CAPS, Plaintiff has established a comprehensive program of trademark protection and enforcement. In particular, CAPS has created an extensive anti-counterfeiting program for Plaintiff, which includes regularly investigating suspicious e-commerce stores and enforcing Plaintiff’s trademark rights to prevent the sale of Counterfeit NBA Products.
Why Is the NBA Suing Online Sellers?
The Plaintiff, being the NBA, has put forth the claim that a collective group of online sellers have infringed on the brand’s trademarks! Why is the NBA making these claims? As one of the most recognizable sports organizations in the world, they’ve absorbed a lot of damage due to counterfeiting. E-commerce operators with bad intentions seize upon the opportunity to cash in on the NBA’s reputation. They fool the average consumer into believing they’ve purchased a legitimate NBA product, when it’s not in actual fact. This kind of illegal activity damages the NBA to the tune of millions of dollars!
Are you one of the Defendants specified in this case? If you are, we encourage you to take the claims seriously, no matter what! The existence of the lawsuit may be already impacting your online business. If it hasn’t yet, it certainly will. Also, please know that the claims that the NBA is making are allegations. They are not yet proven to be true by the court! Furthermore, this is a unique type of lawsuit in the intellectual property arena. It’s called a “Schedule A” lawsuit. By choosing to go forward with a Schedule A suit, brands like NBA give themselves the power to allege multiple counts of infringement by a “network” of sellers. They can accuse a great many sellers of counterfeit versus just one at a time.
Schedule A Settlements vs. Taking Legal Action…
Once sellers receive notice of these infringement lawsuits, they sometimes want to settle with the Plaintiff. Without question, you are entitled to reach a settlement with the NBA. Why is this a popular consideration? Well, what happens almost immediately after the lawsuit is filed is that a temporary restraining order (TRO) goes into effect. That means, the Defendants’ online seller accounts are frozen, along with the money in their accounts. A dramatic interruption to daily business! Many sellers want to get back to selling right away.
For sure, we understand that impulse. However, sellers should understand that most settlements in these cases are for 60% of your frozen monies. Every other penny included in your account(s) will be awarded to the NBA. Herein lies why Schedule A suits are attractive to brands dealing with counterfeiting. They can spray far-reaching claims of infringement at the Defendants, anticipate settlements, and reap a decent amount of money for simple allegations.
Should you settle with the NBA? Not if you’d like to hang onto more than 60% of your earnings! As an intellectual property law firm, we want to get our clients a resolution that is as fair as possible. And, there’s no reason to potentially harm the reputation of your own business by taking a settlement when you may not have done anything as the NBA claims.
Contact Our Firm | Retain an Intellectual Property Attorney
You should respond to the court! Not sure how to do that? No worries, that’s what we are here to do! An intellectual property lawyer is the best resource to use when navigating the world of infringement claims. An attorney can draft the response, submit it to the Plaintiff, and handle all of the correspondence and/or negotiation for you. You worked extremely hard to sell products and establish an online business. Don’t let claims of counterfeit intimidate you!
Our firm regularly covers trademark infringement lawsuits like this one filed by the NBA in Illinois. The attorneys representing the big brands plug in the name of the company and leave the allegations just about the same as with any other case. In the name of fairness, we want to clear our clients of these infringement claims and/or reach resolutions that are favorable! Wondering how to alleviate your business of the burden of an infringement lawsuit?
Contact Stockman & Poropat, PLLC for a free consultation today! Our team will patiently communicate with you to understand your e-commerce operation, and we will devise a creative solution that makes sense for your exact situation. Let us save you and your business the most valuable things in the world – time and money.
Download the legal complaint below:
Up next we will be discussing the Supreme Trademark Infringement Lawsuit.
