Amazon and Valentino file joint lawsuit over shoe counterfeiting
June 18, 2020
MILAN (Reuters) – Italian luxury brand Valentino and Internet giant Amazon have filed a joint lawsuit against New York-based Kaitlyn Pan Group for allegedly counterfeiting Valentino shoes and offering them for sale online.
The move is Amazon’s first joint litigation with a luxury fashion brand and Valentino’s first with an online retailer.
The lawsuit regards the Valentino Garavani Rockstud shoes and the fashion group will receive any proceeds from the case, the companies said in a statement.
Kaitlyn Pan did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Amazon has long been rumoured to be readying a new luxury fashion site to rival Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury Pavilion, but LVMH and other top luxury groups say the risk of counterfeiting is high on such platforms.
Amazon said it had shut down Kaitlyn Pan’s seller account on its platform in September 2019.
“Despite multiple notices of infringement and a cease and desist order, Kaitlyn Pan continues to import, distribute, sell, and offer infringing products on kaitlynpanshoes.com,” the companies said.
They added Kaitlyn Pan had tried to apply for a U.S. trademark for the Garavani Rockstud shoes, “flagrantly and willfully disregarding Valentino’s intellectual property”.
(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)