Burberry hits Target with lawsuit over counterfeited goods

Burberry is one of Britain’s most esteemed luxury brands who have filed a claim against Target over the selling and marketing of counterfeited scarves. Burberry have alleged that Target have infringed upon their trademark design rights after marketing scarves which have similar designs. Burberry owns various trademarks for check patterns and they believe that Target’s designs bare a close resemblance which is enough to be infringing upon their rights.

Burberry decided to firstly contact Target, stating that Burberry has exclusive rights over specific checkered patterns and they demanded that Target refrained from continuing to use this particular checkered pattern as it infringed upon their trademark rights. Target ignored Burberry’s demands and sold the scarves despite being aware that the design was legally protected by Burberry’s trademark.

After failing to prevent the sale of the goods, Burberry decided to take the case to Court. They announced that Target were infringing upon their trademark rights as consumers are likely to be confused by the products due to their similarity. Burberry in addition to seeking an injunction to prevent the sale of the scarves, are also seeking damages in the amount of $2,000,000 for each trademark which was allegedly unlawfully used. Furthermore, they have requested damages for Target’s profit, which they would have made from the alleged unlawfully use of their trademark design.

This case is yet to be determined in Court, but Burberry have been previously successful in similar trademark infringement lawsuits.

By Hannah Chapman, a student at Southampton Solent University