NBA Trademark Lawsuit | Intellectual Property Infringement

The NBA claims online sellers engaged in counterfeiting and formed a network to ensure the longevity of these unauthorized sales! The latest trademark infringement lawsuit by the NBA, filed in Illinois federal court, identifies a list of e-commerce offenders. The Defendants make up what the lawsuit refers to as Schedule A. Which is the totality of the sellers named in the lawsuit.

The allegations made in the NBA infringement suit are completely real. Though their accuracy and/or relevance has yet to be determined. These allegations of infringement were filed in federal court. So, the named sellers will definitely be affected and must respond! All of the allegations may be viewed in the legal complaint. That document may be downloaded at the bottom of this page. We’re sharing a slice of the legal complaint text herein to give readers a general idea of the claims:

NBA Allegations of Trademark Infringement

Many Defendants also deceive unknowing consumers by using one or more NBA 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 Genuine NBA Products. Other e-commerce stores operating under Seller Aliases omit using NBA 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 Genuine NBA Products. 

E-commerce store operators like Defendants regularly register or acquire new seller aliases for the purpose of offering for sale and selling Counterfeit NBA Products. Such seller alias registration patterns are one of many common tactics used by e-commerce store operators like Defendants to conceal their identities, the full scope and interworking of their counterfeiting operation, and to avoid being shut down.

Defendants are working to knowingly and willfully import, distribute, offer for sale, and sell Counterfeit NBA Products in the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences. Defendants, without any authorization or license from Plaintiff, have knowingly and willfully used and continue to use one or more NBA Trademarks in connection with the advertisement, distribution, offering for sale, and/or sale of the Counterfeit NBA Products into the United States and Illinois over the Internet. 

What to Expect…NBA Trademark Lawsuit

When online sellers are accused of counterfeiting in a federal context such as this, there’s a few things you can expect. Straight out the gate, a lack of a response to the lawsuit will likely result in a Default Judgment! That’s not the kind of outcome that any seller would wish for. The vulnerability for the Default Judgment can be avoided by simply responding. Perhaps a Defendant considers the lawsuit not worth their time or illegitimate. But, if you have an amount of money in your seller accounts that you wouldn’t want to lose in full? You should definitely respond. That’s correct, there’s a probability that if a seller doesn’t respond and a Default Judgment is issued, all of the money in their seller accounts will be awarded to the Plaintiff!

What was the impetus for the NBA filing a trademark lawsuit in federal court? The Plaintiff asserts that the Defendants sold a number of counterfeit, unauthorized products online. This alleged infringement led the NBA to pursue legal action because they’ve supposedly lost revenue due to the sellers’ actions. As we mentioned at the top of the article, the main contention is that the sellers created a network amongst themselves. With that network established, the Plaintiff alleges, the Defendants communicated with each other to share the most effective means for trademark infringement. The NBA claims the sellers aim to continue the sale of unauthorized goods for as long as possible. Based on these allegations, the Plaintiff is suing the sellers to recoup their losses.

The Most Disruptive Aspect of the NBA Lawsuit

There will be an aspect of the lawsuit that is arguably the most disruptive for the named online sellers. We’re referring to the temporary restraining order! This is part of a common legal strategy that brands like the NBA use for Schedule A infringement lawsuits. Once the injunction is approved by the court, all of the Defendants’ seller accounts will be frozen. What about access to the money in the accounts when they’re frozen? Sellers won’t have access. The restraining order stops sellers who were accused of infringement from touching the money they earned. The injunction will affect earnings gathered from selling NBA products, but could also be applied to other monies. Depending on the amount of money in those accounts, and the overall health of your e-commerce business, the TRO could be a major hit!

What happens in these types of lawsuits is that sellers may feel as if they ought to directly settle with the Plaintiff. That is to say, some Defendants might want to try and figure out a resolution without the help of an attorney. A direct settlement may appeal to an affected seller because they’re concerned about the restraining order. In some instances, this option could be the path to a quick turnaround, but not without a downside. The biggest downside to not relying on an attorney to resolve the matter is that you could lose more money! When you work with our lawyers at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC, we’ll use our in-depth knowledge of intellectual property lawsuits to get you the settlement you deserve!

Stockman & Poropat, PLLC Can Get You What You Deserve!

The NBA’s lawsuit against online sellers is intended to halt any further unauthorized sales of counterfeit goods to consumers. The sellers named in the lawsuit will be facing a temporary restraining order due to their alleged actions. Are the claims accurate to your e-commerce business? Have you done what the NBA says you did? That’s something Stockman & Poropat, PLLC can help you answer! As one of our clients, you’ll benefit from our next-level service and an incomparable amount of experience in this particular area of law. We want a fair resolution as much as you do!

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 Mob Entertainment Trademark Infringement Action.