In a dispute between two competing cosmetics companies, a federal court in Florida recently held that an allegedly fraudulent Amazon takedown notice, falsely claiming that genuine products were infringing and counterfeit, was an adequate basis for a false advertising claim under the Lanham Act. Verbena Prods. LLC v. BeSweet Creations, Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27936 (S.D. FL Feb. 16, 2022).
The plaintiff, Verbena Products, LLC dba Beautyvice, sued the defendant, BeSweet Creations, Inc. dba Sugarbearhair (Sugar Bear) and Nicole Johnson, Sugar Bear's owner, CEO, president, director, and assistant secretary, because Sugar Bear sent a report signed by Ms. Johnson to Amazon falsely claiming that two of Beautyvice's Amazon Marketplace listings for Sugar Bear—branded products were counterfeit products. Sugar Bear's report stated that the disputed listings are "unsafe to consume as it is not the real product" and "counterfeit fake." It also stated that Beautyvice is "selling product that 100% replicates our trademark and label but it is not our product." The report closed with, "Please protect Amazon customers by removing this seller from Amazon."
Amazon removed the two disputed listings, which were for products that Beautyvice lawfully purchased prior to being resold legally on Amazon Marketplace.
Beautyvice sued for false advertising under the Lanham Act, alleging that Sugar Bear's statements deceived Amazon and are likely to deceive and confuse the public (Amazon Marketplace...
A front-page article with the byline of veteran New York Times opinion writer Nicholas Kristof is the latest poisonous example of what I call the NGO “halo effect.” Headlined “The Silence That Mee...