Vogue Counterfeit Allegations | Trademark Infringment
Vogue has moved forward with a federal intellectual property infringement lawsuit! The online sellers named in the action will have to consider their options in light of the suit. What’s the strongest way to defend yourself against the allegations asserted by Vogue? Hiring an intellectual property attorney!
The thing sellers ought to grasp is that the alternative to working with an attorney could cost them additional financial strain. How would figuring out a resolution without using an attorney lead to loss? Well, a direct settlement with the Plaintiff is an often-considered option. In the majority of instances, this route results in sellers receiving only 60% of their hard-earned money. At Stockman & Poropat, PLLC, we don’t believe that sellers should get less than they deserve. We work hard to fight for the best outcome available to sellers, given the circumstances. Ultimately, online sellers rely on their earnings to continue their operation. As such, we want to see affected Defendants walk away with what they need, rather than what the Plaintiff is willing to give them.
Schedule A Infringment Means Temporary Restraining Order
As the Defendants may be aware, Schedule A infringement lawsuits come with temporary restraining orders. These injunctions are intended to stop the named sellers from offering counterfeit goods to consumers. According to Vogue’s allegations, unauthorized products were sold by the Defendants on multiple online platforms. These unlawful actions, states the Plaintiff, have damaged the Vogue brand. And, that damage has been so significant, says Vogue, that they’ve decided to file a federal infringement lawsuit.
The restraining order, though temporary, can have a lasting effect if the lawsuit isn’t addressed appropriately. While the TRO is in play, the sellers won’t be able to access their online accounts. That’s correct, the injunction prevents the Defendants from touching the money they themselves earned. Due to this freeze, online sellers also won’t be able to withdraw any funds. When this is all happening, it could plunge some of the sellers into a difficult financial situation. However the Vogue lawsuit strikes your e-commerce business, Stockman & Poropat, PLLC can help!
Vogue Trademark Lawsuit | What the Brand Claims
The Vogue trademark lawsuit contains several allegations of counterfeit. The entirety of the infringement allegations are described in the legal complaint. Let’s take a look at a selection of those IP infringement claims below:
Defendants [] deceive unknowing consumers by using the VOGUE 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 Vogue Products. Other e-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases omit using the VOGUE 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 Vogue Products.
Defendants are working to knowingly and willfully import, distribute, offer for sale, and sell Counterfeit 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 the VOGUE Trademarks in connection with the advertisement, distribution, offering for sale, and sale of Counterfeit Products into the United States and Illinois over the Internet.
[Sellers’] unauthorized use of the VOGUE Trademarks in connection with the advertising, distribution, offering for sale, and sale of Counterfeit 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 Plaintiff.
On Information and Belief… Vogue Sues Sellers
Vogue’s reason for filing the lawsuit is not restricted to one allegation. The Plaintiff has gathered information and believes that the Defendants have created a network to better establish their counterfeiting actions. By using off-shore accounts, Vogue claims sellers avoid paying damages. Furthermore, they communicate with one another by way of specific channels to share best practices for essentially getting away with infringement. Though not all of this is automatically true for every Defendant, the sellers will all be impacted by the lawsuit. This is why working with a trusted intellectual property attorney is so vital!
Given that the lawsuit has been filed, sellers should expect the incoming Vogue temporary restraining order. Unfortunately, the TRO isn’t something you can run from! Neither is the lawsuit. You need to respond to the lawsuit so that the court doesn’t issue a Default Judgment. If you’re not knowledgeable of how to compose that response, Stockman & Poropat, PLLC can certainly assist. We don’t want to see any of the sellers face a Default Judgment, because it can be expensive and is usually not able to be overturned. Respond to the lawsuit and hire an IP attorney!
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 latest Federal Lululemon Trademark Lawsuit.
