Fuse Chicken vs Amazon ‘is a key 2018 lawsuit’

A lawsuit prompted by the alleged sale of counterfeit Fuse Chicken charger cables on Amazon has been picked by Forbes as ‘one to watch’ this year.

The legal challenge was brought by the Ohio start-up last year – citing Amazon and a slew of sellers using the e-commerce site’s Vendor Express channel – for selling and allowing the sale of knock-off copies of its products, causing a massive slump in sales.

In its article, Forbes writes that Fuse Chicken says it has already spent some $200,000 fighting counterfeits on Amazon, and now employs one individual full-time to try to “stem the flow of fakes.” It reckons that the lawsuit is the “David vs Goliath” legal contest to watch this year.

Fuse Chicken first discovered that counterfeits-offs were being sold as genuine products under in November 2016 when it realised products were being shipped through Amazon Vendor Express even though Amazon had stopped purchasing certain Fuse Chicken products.

The firm says it alerted Amazon that its own purchased stock may be fake and was advised by its Amazon Business Development Manager to file a complaint. However, it alleges the complaint was never resolved and no sufficient explanation was given as to why Amazon continued to allow the sale of the fake products "despite actual knowledge of the unlawful activity".

Fuse Chicken also claims that Amazon failed to remove negative reviews for counterfeit products that damaged its brand.