The big brand are fighting back. This article reproduced by Anthony Demarco of the Jewellery News Network proves they are relentless in their attempts to rid the world of counterfeits
Tiffany & Co. has filed a lawsuit against 44 websites based in China that sell counterfeit Tiffany products.
The civil suit argues that the websites are “are promoting, selling, offering for sale and distributing counterfeit and infringing Tiffany branded products.”
The lawsuit adds that the websites “constitute willful and intentional infringement and counterfeiting of Tiffany's trademarks in total disregard of Tiffany's rights, and have taken place … in spite of defendants' knowledge that their use of Tiffany's trademarks was and is in direct contravention of Tiffany's rights.”
The three defendants listed in the complaint are Ge Wang, King Wang, and Ning Zhou, along with “various unknown associates.” The formal charges are for trademark, counterfeiting and infringement, false designation of origin, and cyberpiracy.
The suit was filed in federal court in Norfolk, Va., the state where the luxury jewellery retailer has its websites registered, according to a story in The Virginian-Pilot. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith on January 18 extended a temporary restraining order that prohibits some 44 websites from selling knockoff Tiffany products. However, the websites quickly change names, and their operators are nearly impossible to locate.
At least some of the websites, such as tiffanymall.org and tiffanystore.org, now redirect visitors to a website that outlines the lawsuit.
Tiffany will seek a preliminary injunction at a hearing on Feb. 1 and, ultimately, a permanent injunction, the newspaper reports.
Original ArticleTiffany sues in Norfolk to shut down counterfeit websites
At the website www. tiffany.com, women's watches sell for a minimum of $2,700, with most priced between $4,000 and $5,000.
However, at www.ustiffany4sale.com, a ladies' watch with the Tiffany emblem that the site says retails for $4,950 is on sale for $169. It's a counterfeit, and Tiffany & Co. has come to Norfolk's federal court seeking to shut down such websites.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith extended a temporary restraining order that prohibits some 44 websites from selling knockoff Tiffany products. The problem, Tiffany discovered, is that the websites quickly change names, and their operators are nearly impossible to locate.
Smith extended the Jan. 1 order 14 days to give the company's attorneys more time to attempt to serve papers on the defendants.
An investigator in China hired by the company learned that the addresses and phone numbers used by the defendants to register their websites were bogus, court records say. Tiffany & Co., based in New Jersey, filed the suit here because the websites' registrars are based in Virginia.
Three defendants from China have not responded to the suit. Roughly half of the 44 websites, with names such as tiffanymall.org and tiffanystore.org, now redirect visitors to a website that outlines the lawsuit.
Some websites on the list apparently have tried to thwart the court action. The website www. ustiffanysale.com, one of the 44, now redirects visitors to www.ustiffany4sale.com, offering products that it admits are counterfeit.
"When receiving your jewellery gift," the web site states, "all will surely give a loud hooting cry of exultation or excitement."
A disclaimer on the site says it does not sell genuine Tiffany products: "Even though the products sold on our site may look the same as those original Tiffany & Co. jewellery, they are not made by Tiffany & Co."
Tiffany will seek a preliminary injunction at a hearing on Feb. 1 and, ultimately, a permanent injunction.
Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com
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