anadian-based Lululemon has filed three similar lawsuits in the Illinois Northern District Court targeting e-commerce sellers who allegedly sell counterfeit versions of their products. The lawsuits focus on sellers operating on various platforms including Amazon, Wish, Shein, Temu, TikTok, eBay, DHgate, and Walmart. They argue that these counterfeit products bear close resemblance to official Lululemon merchandise, serving to confuse consumers and causing damage and injury to the brand.
Lululemon’s Counterfeit Allegations
In their lawsuits, Lululemon alleges that:
- Sellers primarily operate from China or other countries with weak trademark enforcement.
- Defendants use multiple aliases to target U.S. consumers.
- Storefronts are designed to deceive consumers by mimicking official Lululemon retail channels.
- None of the sellers are authorized retailers or have permission to use Lululemon’s trademarks.
Coordinated Counterfeiting?
The company argues that these counterfeit operations show patterns that suggest they are coordinating their illegal activities with each other, such as:
- Similar listing templates and store setups.
- Common grammatical errors and misspellings.
- Comparable product descriptions.
- Shared irregularities in counterfeit products.
Hard to Identify and Track Counterfeiters
Lululemon claims the marketplace platforms’ policies enable this behavior by allowing sellers to create new aliases after being shut down, making it difficult to identify the true operators and their potential connections to each other.
What Lululemon is Requesting
The company is seeking several remedies for the alleged counterfeiting:
- Injunction to stop sellers from using Lululemon trademarks
- Transfer of infringing domain names to Lululemon
- Removal of advertisements related to counterfeit products
- Monetary damages from counterfeit sales
Lululemon argues these actions are necessary to:
- Combat trademark infringement
- Protect consumers from unknowingly buying counterfeits
- Prevent damage to their brand reputation
- Stop the tarnishing of their trademarks
The lawsuits cite violations of the Lanham Act, including trademark infringement, counterfeiting, and false designation of origin.