RevitaLash wins another judgment in counterfeit case

Athena Cosmetics, which makes the RevitaLash brand of eye lash, brow and hair products, has won another lawsuit against a company accused of infringing its trademarks.

In the latest verdict, Athena has won a second judgment against California-based AMN Distribution and its owner Moishe Newman, who was also targeted in a trademark infringement suit that reached a conclusion last year.

The defendants were ruled to have sold counterfeit RevitaLash products via a website called BrushExpress as well as though storefronts on online marketplaces including eBay operated under various aliases.

In the latest ruling, the court concluded that Newman and AMN had breached a settlement agreement that was signed when Athena first caught them selling counterfeit products, ordering the defendants to pay over $1.1m in damages to Athena."

In 2019, an Athena employee bought a product claiming to be RevitaLash Advanced eye lash conditioner that on inspection was found to be counterfeits in copycat packaging that used the same fake lot number, infringing six Athena trademarks.

The fakes also had a number of other differences from the genuine products, including non-commercial-grade 'scotch-tape' product wrapping, unusual font, colours and textures on packaging, and improperly sized non-English instruction manuals.

The lawsuit also claimed that the defendants acted as intermediaries, purchasing counterfeit Athena products in sufficient quantities to sell to other counterfeiters, who then would resell them to others in the US.

"We are pleased that the Federal court recognized the significant harm caused by these counterfeit products and the defendants’ blatant disregard for both our intellectual property and consumer safety," said Michael Brinkenhoff, Athena Cosmetics chief executive.

He added that the company "will continue to take whatever steps necessary to protect our brand and to ensure that consumers can trust that they are buying authentic RevitaLash Cosmetics products that perform as promised."

The company said that counterfeiters go to great lengths to make their knock-offs hard to detect, and advise purchasers to look for tell-tale signs like missing shrink-wrap, pungent odours, discoloured or sticky product formulas, damaged/expired boxes – or no box at all – and missing inventory control numbers.