Posts Tagged: "Tiffany v. eBay"

Trademark and copyright enforcement remains a significant challenge for licensors of popular brands across sports, entertainment, fashion and other industries. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of three dozen industrial countries, estimates counterfeit goods account for 3.3% of global trade. Brand owners cannot rely on the belief that their trademark and copyright registrations will be respected, and they cannot confine their enforcement to demand letters and traditional intellectual property litigation. Rather, a brand owner must avail itself of additional approaches to address both traditional and newer platforms offering infringing products. We continue to see an increase in online infringements, especially in connection with certain e-commerce sites and targeted advertisements on social media. Under the current law, enforcement against online providers can be difficult, particularly when compared to traditional infringement hot sports in the brick-and-mortar marketplace. Flea markets, swap meets and other brick-and-mortar shopping venues reported verdicts and settlements in the last 10 years that confirm commercial landlords/owners can be held liable for the trademark infringement activity of their tenants, with courts around the country extending liability for trademark infringement beyond just the party selling infringing products.

On August 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a jury verdict from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia finding a landlord liable for contributory trademark infringement . The jury ruled for Plaintiffs Luxottica Group, LLC and Oakley, Inc., holding that Defendants Airport Mini Mall, LLC (AMM); Yes Assets, LLC; Chienjung (Jerome) Yeh; Donald Yeh; Jenny Yeh; and Alice Jamison were liable for contributory trademark infringement under the Lanham Act for allowing their subtenants to sell counterfeit goods that infringed the plaintiffs’ trademarks.