A shopper walks through an American Eagle store on November 21, 2023 in Glendale, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
American Eagle Outfitters sues Amazon for trademark infringement, alleging the e-commerce giant used branding from its Aerie clothing line in search results, leading consumers to “substandard failures.”
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, American Eagle accused Amazon of “blatant, unauthorized use” of the Aerie and Offline trademarks by Aerie on its website to deceive shoppers into believing the products were available on Amazon, leading traffic on its platform and sell competing merchandise. The complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
American Eagle said it did not authorize Amazon to sell products from Aerie’s line of yoga pants, underwear, loungewear and other apparel, adding that it was “deliberately waived so that Aerie could enhance its own brand identity and customer experience.” Founded in 1977, American Eagle launched the Aerie brand in 2006.
A shopper looking for Aerie products at Google will see sponsored and organic links to Amazon’s website, the lawsuit states. Clicking on a link takes you to an Amazon webpage that “displays only rejections and ‘disposals'” of Aerie products, including sweats and gym shorts, American Eagle claims. The company said it notified Amazon “a month ago ” for the infringing products, but says they bear repeated misspellings of its Aerie trademarks, including “Aeries,” “Arie,” or “Aries.”
“These ads are intended to (and do) deceive customers into believing that by clicking on the provided link, they will be able to ‘Shop Aerie’ or ‘Store Offline from Aerie’ on the ‘Official Amazon Website,'” it says the complaint. . “These statements are patently false because customers cannot shop for Aerie products on Amazon.”
Many of the alleged Aerie accidents listed in the lawsuit are sold by third-party sellers on Amazon’s online marketplace. Started in 2000, the marketplace allows businesses to purchase their products on the company’s website. It brings together millions of sellers and accounts for more than half of all products sold on the site.
Amazon has faced similar complaints for years. In 2016, shoemaker Birkenstock announced it would pull its products from Amazon in response to an increase in counterfeits. That year, the German automaker Daimler AG sued Amazon after discovering the versions of Mercedes-Benz wheels sold by third-party sellers.
In 2019, Amazon added a line to the “risk factors” section of its annual financial filings, warning investors of the growing threat of third-party sellers peddling counterfeit products. Since then, the company has stepped up its efforts to police counterfeiting on its site, launching a team that pursues criminal charges against counterfeiters, files lawsuits and develops tools to help brands protect their trademarks.
Amazon representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has said before prohibits the sale of counterfeits on its website.
American Eagle is seeking injunctive relief and financial damages based on Amazon’s alleged trademark infringement.
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