Cartier and Other Luxury Brands Win Against E-Commerce Counterfeiting

US District Judge Gary Allen Feess issued a permanent injunction against a Pakistan-based e-commerce site company, Tradekey Pvt. Ltd., barring the use of the Plaintiffs’ trademarks or imitation of their marks: on www.Tradekey.com, www.saudicommerce.com, and www.b2bfreezone.com. 

TradeKey allegedly sold premium memberships to wholesale buyers and distributors worldwide for an annual fee of $519 (SilverKey membership) and $3,000 (GoldKey membership). The members operated through the TradeKey websites, where they advertised and sold counterfeit “replica” versions of Plaintiffs’ goods. An undercover investigator hired by Plaintiffs purchased counterfeit products falsely branded and reportedly discovered 6,000 sellers offering unauthorized versions on Tradekey.Com websites (2,400 listings for CHLOE branded goods, over 200 sellers offering DUNHILL branded goods, over 850 sellers offering PANERAI branded goods, over 500 sellers offering MONTBLANC branded goods, and over 1,900 sellers offering CARTIER branded goods). 

The court’s ruling granted summary judgment for the luxury brand Plaintiffs on all claims, which included findings of contributory counterfeiting and trademark infringement by TradeKey defendants who operated a virtual ‘swap meet’ where they knowingly allowed members to engage in wholesale counterfeiting of Plaintiffs’ marks. The Court imposed a broad permanent injunction and required compliance and monitoring mechanisms to be put in place by Defendants, and deferred its ruling on the statutory damages amount until further briefing.