In their complaint Epson is seeking treble damages in trademark complaint alleging the sale of counterfeit products.
Seiko Epson Corporation and Epson America, Inc. (Epson) filed a complaint on the 19 November in the United States District Court Central District of California, alleging trademark infringement, unfair competition and false advertising by Khoa Le a/k/a Kenny Le, an individual and eBay.com seller “whatslife”.”
In the complaint Epson makes strong demands to the courts, including “that actual damages be trebled…”, damages to be paid, products to be destroyed and demands trial by jury.
The complaint asserts that the “defendant operates, manages, and/or maintains a prolific counterfeiting scheme, using in part, eBay.com to infringe Plaintiffs’ rights by the unlawful offer, distribution, and sale of ink, ink cartridges as well as flat packaging using identical, unauthorised copies of Plaintiffs’ trademarks on counterfeit cartridges and retail box packaging with falsified “Best Before” dates (“Counterfeit Products”).”
Epson contends that “the Counterfeit Products are described as new and/or genuine when they are in fact counterfeit and/or also frequently significantly altered, expired or near expired, and/or used. The Counterfeit Products are materially different from legitimate ink, ink cartridges and packaging manufactured and distributed by Plaintiffs for offer and sale in the domestic United States market.”
Epson also adds that “the Counterfeit Products deceive consumers into thinking they are buying new, genuine Epson products, and their poor quality is incredibly damaging to Plaintiffs’ name and reputation.”
