E-Commerce Sellers Sued by Volkswagen Group of America
Volkswagen Group of America, also known as Volkswagen AG, is suing a group of online sellers for alleged trademark infringement! The Plaintiff is a corporation that’s organized under the core, Germany-based company in Ingolstadt. And as such, they enforce and protect the Volkswagen (VW) trademarks in America. The ubiquitous and globally well-known brand Volkswagen is a major automobile manufacturer. Which makes their trademarks valuable!
The Value of Volkswagen Trademarks
That very value of the Volkswagen trademarks is the foundation for this latest intellectual property action. The Plaintiff filed the lawsuit in a United States federal court and is seeking “injunctive and monetary relief.” Let’s take a look at a cross-section of some of the allegations included in the legal complaint. This will help readers to better grasp what’s at stake:
The success of the Volkswagen brand has resulted in significant counterfeiting of the Volkswagen Trademarks. In recent years, Volkswagen has identified many fully interactive, e-commerce stores offering counterfeit Volkswagen Products on online marketplace platforms such as Amazon, Alibaba, eBay, DHgate, and Walmart, including the e-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases.
Defendants have targeted sales to Illinois residents by setting up and operating e- commerce stores that target United States consumers using one or more Seller Aliases, offer shipping to the United States, including Illinois, accept payment in U.S. dollars and/or funds from U.S. bank accounts, and, on information and belief, have sold Counterfeit Volkswagen Products to residents of Illinois.
E-commerce stores operating under the Seller Aliases often include content and images that make it very difficult for consumers to distinguish such stores from an authorized retailer. Volkswagen has not licensed or authorized Defendants to use any of the Volkswagen Trademarks, and none of the Defendants are authorized retailers of genuine Volkswagen Products.
Volkswagen Schedule A Trademark Infringement Lawsuit
This type of lawsuit is known as a “Schedule A” lawsuit, which is somewhat interesting. Perhaps that’s too strong a word to describe the legal action, but we’re working towards making a point! In brief, the lawsuit is particular in that the Plaintiff is suing more than one seller at the same time. When you conceptualize lawsuits, you might do so on an individual basis. Instead, with the VW trademark lawsuit, the Defendants are being sued on a collective basis. This fact alone should make any impacted online sellers pay attention, if they weren’t already!
So, if all of the Defendants are being sued collectively, will the allegations and/or the lawsuit equally affect them in the same way? The answer to that may depend, but we can say more definitely that the named sellers will, in totality, be affected by the Plaintiff’s aim of seeking “injunctive and monetary relief.” The injunctive portion of that desire will make itself known in the form of a temporary restraining order! This temporary injunction will make its way toward affecting the Defendants’ e-commerce operations because it’ll freeze their seller accounts.
Volkswagen wants to freeze the named sellers online accounts, across marketplaces, as they’ve allegedly documented a significant amount of counterfeit sales. The restraining order is meant to prevent the Defendants from accessing the money they earned from selling VW trademarked goods. The Plaintiff claims that the actions of the group identified as a counterfeit “network” has cost them money and hurt their reputation.
What Sellers Should Do About the Temporary Restraining Order
When the restraining order is in effect, with the court’s approval, sellers may find themselves in a tough spot! No matter the health of your e-commerce business, the injunction can have a major impact. For example, if your business is teetering on the edge and not doing so hot, the restraining order could push it right over that edge, possibly entering bankruptcy. On the other hand, it’s entirely possible that your e-commerce business has been doing incredibly well! In that case, the injunction may rattle your momentum by tying up thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars! For these reasons, it’ll be in the sellers’ interest to protect themselves and their business with the legal counsel at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC.
Some named sellers might also be wondering about how guilty they are of the actions described by the Plaintiff. That’s where the details get more specific, because each seller will need to figure out a resolution for themselves. While the allegations portray the Defendants as knowing each other via their so-called network, the legal strategy will vary from seller to seller. Just like the brand Volkswagen has their legal team, as an online seller you’ll need an attorney, too! Stockman & Poropat, PLLC can deliver a tailor-made legal strategy, based on your operation’s particulars. We want to ensure you have the best available defense!
Take the Lawsuit Seriously and Contact Stockman & Poropat, PLLC!
What’s crucial is that you recognize the seriousness of the Volkswagen trademark infringement action. The method to formally do so is by submitting a response to the court. The reason why this step is so necessary is because you’ll want to let the court know you’ve acknowledged the lawsuit. Any of the named sellers who don’t respond to the lawsuit risk getting caught up in the complications of a Default Judgment! At Stockman & Poropat, PLLC, we wouldn’t want any of the Defendants to needlessly succumb to a loss. By responding, you’re keeping yourself in the right position to then take more thorough legal action of your own!
Contact our team at Stockman & Poropat, PLLC today for a free initial consultation!
Download the legal complaint below:
Up next you can read about another Christian Dior Schedule A Infringement Lawsuit, Filed in April 2025.
