Amazon files joint counterfeit lawsuit
Amazon and cosmetics brand KF Beauty have jointly filed a lawsuit against four companies and 16 people for selling counterfeit products on Amazon’s online stores and for infringing trademarks.
The suit, filed on August 12 at the U nited States District Court for the Western District of Washington, accused the defendants of counterfeiting KF Beauty’s award-winning ‘wunderbrow’ products, and of violating Amazon’s policies and KF Beauty’s trademarks.
In June 2020, Amazon launched its Counterfeit Crime Unit (CCU), which worked with Florida-based KF Beauty to identify the alleged IP infringement. The lawsuit also alleged the defendants conspired with each other to sell counterfeit KF Beauty’s products on Amazon.
It stated that the defendants operated a shell company in Wyoming, US, called Sirowl Technology, and at least one of the individual defendants, Yinglong “Jason” Zhao, resided in Shenzhen, China.
The suit claimed that from “August 8, 2018, to on or about October 30, 2018, the defendants advertised, marketed, offered, and sold counterfeit ...products to Amazon, using KF Beauty’s registered trademarks, without authorisation, to deceive Amazon and customers about the authenticity and origin of the products”.
KF Beauty is one of 350,000 brands that have enrolled in Amazon’s free brand registration service, which provides rights owners with tools to help them protect their IP and report potentially infringing products.
“The majority of sellers in our store are law-abiding entrepreneurs, but we will take aggressive action to protect customers, brands, and our store from counterfeiters,” said Cristina Posa, associate general counsel and director, Amazon CCU. “Amazon and KF Beauty are holding these companies and individuals accountable and we appreciate the close cooperation we’ve had in this investigation,” she added.
“’It is of paramount importance that our customers can purchase KF Beauty cosmetics with confidence, knowing that they will always receive authentic, high-quality products. Our closely monitored and regulated processes – from product development to manufacturing to distribution – are put in place to ensure customers receive carefully controlled products that meet the highest standards,” said Agnes Hjelmer, CEO of KF Beauty.
If the defendants are found liable and a judgement is collected, KF Beauty will receive the proceeds as Amazon refunded the purchases of all customers who received counterfeit KF Beauty products.
This week, Amazon announced the expansion of its anti-counterfeiting programme, Project Zero, to seven new countries, making it available in 17 countries in which Amazon operates. Last year Amazon launched IP Accelerator, a project that connects brands with a network of IP law firms.
The law firms, which include The Sladkus Law Group, Neal & McDevitt, and Dunner Law, provide trademark registration services to help brands secure a trademark at the US Patent and Trademark Office. These measures come after Amazon warned investors about the risk of counterfeits on its online platform for the first time in its annual report last year.
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