Slam dunk lawsuit? NBA company takes aim at counterfeits
The trademark arm of the National Basketball Association, NBA Properties (NBAP), has taken aim at online counterfeits in a trademark infringement suit.
Filed at the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division on Thursday, November 10, NBAP accused a number of defendants of selling unauthorised and unlicensed counterfeit products featuring one or more NBA-related trademarks.
NBAP is the owner/licensee of the ‘NBA’ trademark and the trademarks relating to NBA teams, owning more than 150 US trademark registrations.
The company owns the word mark ‘NBA’, registration number 1,833,902, and the NBA player silhouette logo, registration number 1,966,924.
According to the suit, the infringers are based in China and other foreign jurisdictions, and are an “interrelated group of counterfeiters”.
“Defendants create the defendant internet stores by the thousands and design them to appear to be selling licensed products featuring one or more of the trademarks owned and/or licensed by plaintiff, while … actually selling counterfeit products to unknowing consumers,” said the suit.
NBAP added that the defendants have attempted to avoid liability by “going to great lengths to conceal both their identities and the full scope and interworking of their counterfeiting operation”.
The counterfeiters have also used the trademarks within the context, text and meta-tags of their websites in a bid to deceive unknowing consumers, NBAP alleged.
“Plaintiff is forced to file these actions to combat defendants’ counterfeiting of the trademarks owned or licensed by the plaintiff, as well as to protect unknowing consumers from purchasing counterfeit products over the internet,” said the suit.
It added that NBAP has been irreparably harmed and continues to be “irreparably damaged through consumer confusion, dilution, and tarnishment of their valuable trademarks”.
NBAP is seeking injunctive relief, the transfer of infringing domain names, and an order that the online marketplaces disable and cease providing services used by the defendants.
It is also seeking an account of profits and statutory damages for wilful counterfeiting—$2 million for each and every trademark infringed—and $100,000 per infringing domain name.
