DSW Inc. filed a lawsuit in federal district court alleging that Zappos and its agents have infringed DSW service marks. The suit seeks an injunction and damages resulting from the misuse of those marks.
The suit said that the name DSW was being used in multiple URLs, along with DSW store photographs, in an effort to mislead consumers into believing they were on a DSW related website. The site then links customers to the Zappos.com site.
Bill Jordan, SVP and General Counsel of DSW said in a statement, “We intend to rigorously defend and protect our intellectual property and our brand against any sort of misuse. It is unacceptable and we will not hesitate to pursue our legal rights in matters of this sort.”
DSW said it recently launched DSW.com in response to customers' requests to shop 24 hours, 7 days a week. As of May 12, DSW operated 270 stores in 37 states and operated an e-commerce site, www.DSW.com.
