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Home > Hermès International v. Does

Hermès International v. Does [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Thu, 07/12/2012 - 11:10

Summary

Threat Type: 

Lawsuit

Date: 

02/29/2012

Status: 

Concluded

Disposition: 

Default Judgment
Injunction Issued

Location: 

New York

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

$100,000,000.00

Legal Claims: 

Trademark Infringement
Trademark Dilution
Unfair Competition
On March 6, 2012, Hermès International and its subsidiary Hermès of Paris filed a complaint (which had been prepared for February 29, 2012) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against 34 websites that... read full description
Parties

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

John Does 1-100; XYZ Companies

Type of Party: 

Large Organization

Type of Party: 

Individual
Organization

Location of Party: 

  • New York
  • France

Legal Counsel: 

Jonathan A. Malki; Joseph C. Gioconda; Kristin Lia
Description
On March 6, 2012, Hermès International and its subsidiary Hermès of Paris filed a complaint [2] (which had been prepared for February 29, 2012) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against 34 websites that allegedly sold counterfeit Hermes bags, scarves, and other Birkin products. In the complaint, eight of the defendants were identified by name and served by email, while the remaining individuals and companies remained anonymous. Hermès's complaint alleges nine causes of action:
  1. Federal trademark counterfeiting violating the Lanham Act §§ 32(a)-(b)
  2. Federal trademark infringement violating the Lanham Act § 32
  3. Cybersquatting under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act
  4. Trade dress infringement and false designation of origin violating the Lanham Act § 43(a)
  5. Federal trademark dilution violating the Lanham Act § 43(c)
  6. Trademark dilution violating the N.Y. General Business Law § 360
  7. Deceptive acts and practices unlawful violating the N.Y. General Business Law §§ 349-350
  8. Trademark infringement violating New York state common law
  9. Unfair competition violating New York state common law

Hermès requested 100 million dollars in damages, alleging damages in the amount of two million dollars per trademark that was counterfeited or infringed.

After reviewing Hermès's complaint, District Court Judge Cote granted a temporary restraining order [3] against the defendants on March 6, 2012. At this time, Judge Cote also established a March 16, 2012 deadline for the defendants to file an answer and ordered that they appear in court to show cause on March 20, 2012. The order also permitted service by email, which was verified on March 8, 2012.

On March 21, 2012, Judge Cote ordered a preliminary injunction [4] against the defendants regarding the use of the Hermès trademarks and granted domain name seizure on an ex parte basis.

Hermès further filed a motion for default judgment [5] against all of the defendants on April 13, 2012. In this motion, Hermès argued that that the defendants' failure to appear justifies the entry of a default judgment, in the form of enhanced statutory damages of 100 million dollars and permanent injunctive relief. On the same day, Hermès's attorney, Joseph C. Gioconda, filed a declaration [6] in support of Hermès's motion for default judgment.

On April 19, 2012, Judge Cote issued to the defendants an order to show cause [7] by appearing on April 27, 2012 to defend against an entry of default judgment. None of the defendants responded or appeared, and therefore on April 27, 2012, less than two months after the original complaint was filed, Judge Cote granted [8] Hermès's motion for default judgment. Judge Cote awarded Hermès 100 million dollars in statutory damages and permanently injoined the defendants from use of the Hermès trademarks, designs, and/or domain names.

Related Links: 

  • Eric Goldman: Hermès Obtains (Ex Parte) $100M Award Against Alleged Counterfeiters [9]
  • Bloomberg: Hermes Wins $100 Million Damages From Counterfeit Websites [10]
Details

Web Site(s) Involved: 

34 websites including: HermesBags-Outlet.net; HeremesBagsOutletStore.com; HermesBagsOutlet.org; HermesOutlet1.com; HermesHandbagOutlet.org; HermesHandbagOutlet.org; HermesHandbagOutlet.org1; HermesHandbagOutlet2.org; HermesOutlet2.org; HermesBagss.org; HermesBirkin-Bags.org; HermesBirkin-Bags1.org; HermesOutletStore.com; Outlet-Hermes.net; Hermes--Outlet.com; DiscountHermesBag.com; HermesOutletMall.com; HermesOutletBags.com; HermesHandbags-Outlet.net; HermesKellyOutlet.com; HermesOutletBags.net; HermesOutletBags.org; HermesOutletHandbags.com; HermesOutletSale.com; HermesOutletShop.com; HermesOutletShop.info; Hermes-BagsOutlet.com; HermesBagsOutlets.net; Hermes-BagsOutlets.com; HermesBagsOutlet.net; DeHermesHandbags.com; Outlet-eHermes.com; and HermesHandbagsOutlets.com

Content Type: 

  • Virtual

Publication Medium: 

Website

Subject Area: 

  • Trademark
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • New York

Source of Law: 

  • United States
  • New York

Court Name: 

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Court Type: 

Federal

Case Number: 

1:12-cv-01623-DLC

Relevant Documents: 

PDF icon 2012-02-29-Hermes complaint.pdf [11]
PDF icon 2012-03-06-Order granting temporary restraining order.pdf [12]
PDF icon 2012-03-21-Order granting preliminary injunction.pdf [13]
PDF icon 2012-04-13-Declaration in support of motion for entry of default judgment.pdf [14]
PDF icon 2012-04-13-Hermes memo in support of motion for entry of default judgment.pdf [15]
PDF icon 2012-04-19-Order to show cause for entry of default judgment.pdf [16]
PDF icon 2012-04-27-Order for default judgment and permanent injunction.pdf [17]

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Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:12pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/herm%C3%A8s-international-v-does

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/herm%C3%A8s-international-v-does
[2] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-02-29-Hermes%20complaint.pdf
[3] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-03-06-Order%20granting%20temporary%20restraining%20order.pdf
[4] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-03-21-Order%20granting%20preliminary%20injunction.pdf
[5] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-04-13-Hermes%20memo%20in%20support%20of%20motion%20for%20entry%20of%20default%20judgment.pdf
[6] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-04-13-Declaration%20in%20support%20of%20motion%20for%20entry%20of%20default%20judgment.pdf
[7] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-04-19-Order%20to%20show%20cause%20for%20entry%20of%20default%20judgment.pdf
[8] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-04-27-Order%20for%20default%20judgment%20and%20permanent%20injunction.pdf
[9] http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2012/05/hermes_obtains.htm
[10] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-30/hermes-wins-100-million-in-damages-from-websites-selling-fakes.html
[11] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-02-29-Hermes%20complaint.pdf
[12] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-03-06-Order%20granting%20temporary%20restraining%20order.pdf
[13] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-03-21-Order%20granting%20preliminary%20injunction.pdf
[14] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-04-13-Declaration%20in%20support%20of%20motion%20for%20entry%20of%20default%20judgment.pdf
[15] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-04-13-Hermes%20memo%20in%20support%20of%20motion%20for%20entry%20of%20default%20judgment.pdf
[16] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-04-19-Order%20to%20show%20cause%20for%20entry%20of%20default%20judgment.pdf
[17] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2012-04-27-Order%20for%20default%20judgment%20and%20permanent%20injunction.pdf