Gucci has sent a strong warning to illegal counterfeiters as the brand wins $144.2million court case. Get all the details...
Gucci has won a court battle against online counterfeiting, with a federal court in Florida awarding the legendary brand with $144.2 million in damages.
The Italian fashion house, adored by A-listers like Blake Lively and Beyoncé, filed the lawsuit in May, against a group of organisations running a counterfeiting operation online.
A list of 155 domain names have now been successfully sued for selling fake Gucci merchandise and ordered to shut down, or surrender to the brand, within the next 30 days.
Items being produced illegally ranged from handbags and designer clothing to accessories including watches.
At the time of taking up court action, Gucci accused the websites of using ‘such tactics as copying campaign advertisements, product images and descriptions from official websites, as well as using Gucci in the domain name’, in order to ‘deceive online consumers’.
The brash nature of the guilty websites is nothing short of shocking, but it seems in reality, such deceiving nature has never been more prominent in the industry.
“We are extremely pleased that the court clearly understood the dangers to consumers posed by online counterfeiting organizations and has send a strong message that counterfeiters can expect to receive severe sanctions when caught,” said Gucci president and CEO Patrizio di Marco.
The websites in question were registered in Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the Cocos Islands and the United States.
It’s a groundbreaking day for luxury fashion brands such as Gucci, as the Kering Group, which also owns Balenciaga, Stella McCartney and Saint Laurent, sends a stern warning to anyone carrying out such illegal activity.
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