Louis Vuitton files suit against hundreds of websites

Luxury goods company Louis Vuiton has filed a complaint in a Florida court seeking the takedown of websites infringing its trademarks.

The complaint alleges federal trademark counterfeiting and infringement, false designation of origin, cybersquatting, common law unfair competition, and common law trademark infringement, and is failed against 23 defendants who “all operate through domain names registered in the US via the domain registrar GoDaddy” such as louisvuittonbag.site, streetwear-official.com and handbagfakes.com.

LVMH’s Louis Vuitton is seeking a restraining order on the manufacture and sale of infringing goods, seizure of domain names and de-listing by search engines, and statutory damages of $2m for each counterfeit trademark used, reports the Florida Record.

“Like many other famous trademark owners in the luxury goods market, Louis Vuitton suffers ongoing daily and sustained violations of its trademark rights at the hands of counterfeiters and infringers…who wrongfully reproduce and counterfeit Louis Vuitton’s trademarks for the twin purposes of (i) duping and confusing the consuming public and (ii) earning substantial profits,” says the complaint.

The action is just the latest battle in an ongoing war being waged by Louis Vuitton against counterfeiters, both online and in bricks-and-mortar locations. Last year, for example, the fashion brand filed a precedent-setting lawsuit against a Canadian flea market alleging that the landlords knowingly or negligently allowed the advertisement and sale of fake Louis Vuitton goods.