In response to a suit filed by LL Bean earlier in the month, Claria, a spyware software company, has countersued, calling the original Bean motion, “a baseless resort to sham litigation, all part of its unsuccessful litigation strategy.” BOSS reported last week, (BOSS_0423) that the litigation originated because L.L. Bean customers were reporting that Eddie Bauer pop-up ads were appearing when they logged on to the Bean website.

“L.L. Bean is interested in informing consumers about pop-up box advertising,” said L.L. Bean’s president and CEO, Chris McCormick. “It’s a serious annoyance to them, and we want them to know we don’t use it, and that when they see it on our site, it is not associated in any way with L.L. Bean.”

Bean didn’t just file suit against Claria, the company is going after companies that have taken out ads with Claria as well, including Nordstroms, JC Penney, Atkins Nutritionals, and Gevalia Kaffee. Claria has claimed that Nordstrom and JC Penney have not utilized Claria services for “over 1.5 to 3 years.”

In a press release, Claria said “Of the remaining two companies L.L. Bean sued, Atkins Nutritionals and Gevalia Kaffee, one has never been a Claria customer and the other has never purchased ad inventory in the apparel category for ads to be shown directly to L.L. Bean consumers.”
L.L. Bean reports that Atkins Nutritionals has already settled the case, agreeing to a court order not to serve such ads on L.L. Bean’s website, and agreeing to pay a confidential amount to L.L. Bean.

“We welcome any other marketers who care about the consumer’s online shopping experience to join us in condemning this parasitic practice,” said McCormick. “Spyware clearly degrades the consumer’s experience in using the Internet.”

>>> In a press release, Claria accused Bean of fighting their legal battle with press releases