The luxury brand Chloé has been awarded $7.2 million in damages for an infringement lawsuit that it brought against Mohammed Alexander Zarafshan who allegedly supplied counterfeit items to an online site back in 2006. WWD
Mr. Zarafshan is a Los Angeles supplier. While Mr. Zarafshan was initially cooperative with the lawsuit, he failed to answer the complaint in court. As a result, the U.S. Federal Court entered a default judgment in favor of the brand.
It is another case of you snooze, you lose!
If you get a complaint about trademark or trade dress infringement, you must answer it! This is why there are IP lawyers to begin with. If you fail to respond, it is not going to go away. It will only lead to a default judgment as you have read in my previous posts about the LVMH case. From Runway to Highway Robbery: LVMH Wins Damages In Counterfeit Suit
This recession is just making designers more aware of when their designs are infringed upon which is a good thing. Typically, designers don't bother with lawsuits protecting their work because they feel like they will not prevail (due to lax laws about IP and fashion in the US). However these two cases are just more proof that when pirates steal their work, courts are willing to back them up.
My advice to current and future pirates: Lawyer up because the law about fashion intellectual property will likely change soon and if not, there is always trademark enforcement.
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