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13 October 2016Trademarks

Gucci pursues counterfeiters after ‘explosion’ of fakes

Luxury brand Gucci has hit out at online counterfeiters with the filing of a trademark infringement claim.

On Monday, October 10, Gucci claimed at the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida that the defendants had sold counterfeit clothes and accessories online featuring the Gucci trademarks.

“Like many other famous trademark owners in the luxury goods market, Gucci suffers ongoing daily and sustained violations of its trademark rights at the hands of counterfeiters and infringers,” said the lawsuit.

It added that the defendants are wrongfully reproducing and counterfeiting Gucci’s trademarks “for the twin purposes of (i) duping and confusing the consuming public and (ii) earning substantial profits”.

Gucci’s trademarks include ‘Gucci’, a design with two green stripes and one red one, and two interlinking letter Gs.

The company said it believed the counterfeiters were based “in foreign jurisdictions with lax trademark enforcement systems” and that their business was being conducted through internet marketplace websites”.

It added: “The natural and intended by-product of defendants’ actions is the erosion and destruction of the goodwill associated with the Gucci name and associated trademarks, and the destruction of the legitimate market sector in which it operates.”

The luxury brand said that it spends money on trademark enforcement every year, including legal fees, investigative fees, and support mechanisms for law enforcement.

Gucci added that the recent explosion of counterfeiting “has created an environment that requires companies … to expend significant time and money” in order to “protect both consumers and itself from the ill effects of confusion and the erosion of … goodwill”.

In July this year, Gucci sued nearly 200 anonymous cybersquatters in a trademark infringement and counterfeiting complaint.

Over the past month, WIPR has reported that Christian Dior, Calvin Klein and Chanel have all taken up arms against online counterfeiters.

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More on this story

Trademarks
21 July 2016   Luxury brand Gucci has sued nearly 200 anonymous cybersquatters in a trademark infringement and counterfeiting complaint.
Trademarks
14 November 2016   WIPR readers are in agreement that there has been a recent “explosion in counterfeiting” for brand owners.