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14 August 2017Trademarks

Harley-Davidson continues fight against counterfeiters

Motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has sued a group of Chinese counterfeiters allegedly selling unauthorised versions of its goods online.

The complaint was filed at the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Friday, August 11.

It accused the defendants, named as an “interrelated group of counterfeiters”, of running online stores on a range of platforms and marketing the sites on social media.

The group was accused of selling motorcycle parts, apparel, jewellery and other goods “using counterfeit versions of Harley-Davidson’s federally registered trademarks”.

Harley-Davidson owns a number of trademarks including number 0,507,163 for the ‘Harley-Davidson’ name, first registered in 1949, and 3,447,304 for the logo with a bald eagle used for “a full line of clothing in class 25”.

“Defendants facilitate sales by designing the defendant internet stores so that they appear to unknowing consumers to be authorised online retailers, outlet stores, or wholesalers,” it said in the claim.

It added: “The unauthorised use of the Harley-Davidson trademark is likely to cause and has caused confusion, mistake and deception among consumers and is irreparably harming Harley-Davidson.”

Harley-Davidson is seeking injunctive relief, a transfer of infringing domain names, a transfer of profits derived from the infringing products, $2 million for “each and every use of the ‘Harley-Davidson’ trademarks”, and attorneys’ fees.

It isn’t the first time the motorcycling company has been involved in an IP lawsuit.

As reported by WIPR in May, it obtained an injunction and was awarded damages against another group of counterfeiters also running an online store.

The order stated that “all monies currently restrained in defaulting defendants’ financial accounts, including monies held by PayPal, are hereby released to Harley-Davidson as partial payment”.

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More on this story

Trademarks
8 November 2017   Motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has sued a group of Chinese counterfeiters allegedly running internet stores to sell counterfeit goods to US residents.
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22 December 2017   Motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has obtained a permanent injunction against a group of counterfeiters allegedly running internet stores to sell fake goods to US consumers.
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30 January 2018   A Florida-based man has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison for selling counterfeit goods, including perfume and jewellery.