Amazon.com Inc., together with HanesBrands Inc., jointly filed 13 lawsuits against 17 defendants for selling silicone protective earbud case covers that illegally bear HanesBrands registered Champion trademark.
The defendants attempted to offer the infringing products in Amazon’s store, violating Amazon’s policies, infringing on HanesBrands registered Champion trademark and breaking the law.
The lawsuits were filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. It alleges that the defendants used HanesBrands’ registered Champion trademark without authorization to deceive customers about the authenticity and origin of the products and to create a false affiliation with HanesBrands.
Amazon closed the defendant’s selling accounts.
“The vast majority of Amazon customers shop with the confidence knowing they will receive an authentic product,” said Dharmesh Mehta, vice president, Customer Trust and Partner Support, Amazon. “In the rare instances when bad actors attempt to take advantage of customers and companies like HanesBrands, our team is relentless about tracking down and holding them accountable.”
Amazon said it “strictly prohibits infringing and counterfeit products in its store and has invested more than $700 million and employed more than 10,000 people to proactively protect its store from bad actors and bad products. Amazon uses industry-leading tools to verify potential sellers’ identities, and Amazon’s proprietary systems analyze hundreds of unique data points to verify information provided by potential sellers. In 2020, only 6 percent of attempted new seller account registrations passed its verifications process and listed products and, as a result, fewer than 0.01 percent of all products sold on Amazon received a counterfeit complaint from customers. Those complaints were then investigated for accuracy.”
“We will aggressively defend our brands and our intellectual property around the world,” said Jon Ram, president, global activewear, HanesBrands. “We look forward to prevailing in these lawsuits.”
In June 2020, Amazon launched its Counterfeit Crimes Unit, a global team dedicated to pursuing bad actors and holding them accountable to the fullest extent of the law, including by working with law enforcement. Amazon has filed a series of lawsuits against counterfeiters, including a lawsuit against individuals using social media to promote and facilitate the sale of counterfeits, and joint lawsuits with Italian luxury brands Valentino and Ferragamo, cosmetics brand KF Beauty, family travel accessory brand JL Childress, cooler manufacturer Yeti, and the family-owned and operated card game company Dutch Blitz.
Photo courtesy Amazon
