Harry Styles sues online fake merchandise sellers
Harry Styles has filed a lawsuit against unauthorised merchandise sellers selling counterfeit items online.
Harry Styles has filed a lawsuit against unauthorised merchandise sellers.
The 'As It Was' singer's legal representatives are taking legal action against online singers in a bid to crackdown on counterfeit products that fans often buy without realising they are not genuine.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Chicago on Tuesday (10.01.23), stated: “Plaintiff is forced to file this action to combat defendants’ counterfeiting of its registered trademarks, as well as to protect unknowing consumers from purchasing counterfeit products over the Internet."
The items also appear on legitimate market place websites sucvh as Etsy and Amazon and the lawsuit argued they make it “difficult for consumers to distinguish such stores from an authorised retailer.”
The former One Direction singer wants all of the listings for the counterfeit items to be removed, with Billboard Pro reporting the lawsuit lists specific URLs rather than actual vendors or people.
It also notes many of the items are from sellers based mostly in China and “other foreign jurisdictions with lax trademark enforcement system.”
The suit added: “Tactics used by defendants to conceal their identities and the full scope of their operation make it virtually impossible for plaintiff to learn defendants’ true identities and the exact interworking of their counterfeit network."
The lawsuit doesn't name the specific sellers in order to stop them attempting to dodge the action.
Harry's lawyers explained: “If defendants were to learn of these proceedings prematurely, the likely result would be the destruction of relevant documentary evidence and the hiding or transferring of assets to foreign jurisdictions."
The case against specific sites rather than sellers is a tactic that has been used by Nike, Ray-Ban, Toyota and Tommy Hilfiger in recent months.
