By: Sharon Urias, Esq.
Coach, the luxury handbag manufacturer, began Operation Turnlock in 2009, an anti-counterfeiting campaign. Since the inception of Operation Turnlock, Coach has had success and received monetary awards against the knock-off artists who have been selling counterfeit Coach handbags. Just in July of this year, a mother and daughter team of counterfeiters were hit with a $44 million judgment, and their operation was shut down by a Manhattan judge for trademark infringement.
With the recent ruling by an Illinois judge, however, Coach was not only awarded monetary damages, but will now be able to shut down these counterfeit handbag web sites, as well.
An Illinois judge, according to an article in the NY Daily News, declared the people behind the online counterfeiting sites of Coach handbags guilty of cybersquatting and violating the state’s Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices. The jury awarded Coach $257 million in damages, which is the largest settlement of its kind thus far.
Can You Trademark a Place?
It is very unlikely that the Coach will be able to collect from these web sites, but none-the-less, it is still a huge victory for the company. With the ruling, Coach will now be able to seize the 573 domain names linked to its brand. It will just be a matter of time before sites such as mycheapcoach.com,us-coach-bags.com and other websites that are selling knockoffs of Coach handbags online are shut down.
According to lawyers for company, the judgment should send a warning to all involved in the trafficking of counterfeit goods that Coach will pursue and find you, and will then seek to impose penalties against you.
