Amazon has joined Pacific Market International – the maker of Stanley tumblers – in a joint lawsuit against counterfeiters alleged to have sold fake products using the brands’ names in the e-commerce market.
- The lawsuit has been filed in Washington federal court against an Oregon resident and a Wisconsin resident for selling insulated cups with the Stanley trademark, despite the products not being manufactured by Pacific Market International.
- It claims that both third-party vendors used fake invoices in an attempt to mislead consumers that the products were authorized by Pacific, according to reporting by Rachel Riley of Law360.
Pacific claims that it purchased the products from the defendants as a test to confirm the tumblers were indeed counterfeit. Amazon shut down the accounts of the accused earlier this year when it discovered the copyright infringement.
- The Stanley Quencher was arguably the hottest promotional product of 2023.
Amazon says that it has given refunds to customers who purchased the fake tumblers. The lawsuit specifically accuses the two defendants of:
- False designation of origin
- Trademark infringement
- Violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act
- Amazon is also making a breach-of-contact claim against the vendors for violating terms of agreement.
Business Giants Coming Together For ‘Zero Tolerance’
This is not the first time that Amazon has collaborated with large retail brands to take on counterfeiters through legal action. In recent years, the e-commerce platform has joined lawsuits with:
- Stanley
- Canon
- Gillette
- Yeti
- 3M (PPAI 113638, Platinum)
A lawsuit filed with 3M – PPAI 100’s No. 13 supplier – against a defendant who was deemed to have been selling stethoscopes with unauthorized 3M branding resulted in a $6 million judgment earlier this year.
“[Amazon] has a zero-tolerance policy for counterfeit products and collaborated with Stanley on this joint lawsuit to have a direct impact on these bad actors and permanently prevent them selling counterfeits,” a spokesperson for the company told Law360.
RELATED: Stanley Drinkware’s Parent Firm Requests Dismissal Of Class Action
The resources that Amazon already has, independent of collaborating with some of the biggest brands, allow it to legally pursue action against essentially any counterfeiters that come onto its radar. It is feasible that the lawsuits are less about recouping losses specific to the counterfeiting and more about establishing a “no tolerance” precedent and scaring off future perpetrators.
Promo firms must stay vigilant in the vetting of the suppliers they partner with to avoid becoming a third-party vendor in a counterfeit branding example. A distributor will not be able to claim ignorance in such a scenario.
- Recently, a Pennsylvania jury deemed a retailer guilty of infringing on Penn State University’s trademark with the use of retro or “historic” images that misled consumers.
