Amazon and small business J.L. Childress File Joint Lawsuit against Counterfeiters

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and J.L. Childress unsealed a jointly filed lawsuit against 11 named individuals (collectively, the “defendants”) for counterfeiting J.L. Childress’ products, including travel bags for car seats and strollers. The defendants, by offering the infringing products for sale in Amazon’s store, violated Amazon’s policies, J.L. Childress’ intellectual property rights, and the law.

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington on August 10 and alleges the defendants conspired and operated in concert with each other to sell counterfeit J.L. Childress products.

Amazon strictly prohibits counterfeit products in its stores, and in 2019 alone, invested more than $500 million to protect customers and brands from fraud, abuse, and counterfeit. Amazon’s proactive investments in preventing counterfeit include robust seller vetting, advanced machine-learning based technologies, and industry-leading brand protection tools like Project Zero, Brand Registry, and Transparency. As a result of Amazon’s efforts, 99.9% of all products viewed by customers on Amazon have not received a valid counterfeit complaint. In June 2020, Amazon launched its Counterfeit Crimes Unit, a global team with specialized experience in investigating and bringing legal action against bad actors.

J.L. Childress is a California-based family business started more than thirty years ago by Jan Childress. Today, her two daughters, Kate and Sarah, co-own and operate the family business. J.L. Childress is one of more than a million small and medium-sized businesses worldwide that sell their products in Amazon’s store. J.L. Childress goes to great lengths to protect its consumers from counterfeits of its products, and they are committed to efforts to combat counterfeits.

Statement, attributable to Amazon:

“Whether a product comes from a large brand, family business, or a new entrepreneur, our priority is preventing counterfeits from entering our store and damaging our customers’ experience and a brand’s reputation. We invest significant resources in proactively protecting our store, and in addition, we take aggressive action to hold bad actors accountable as we’ve done here,” said Cristina Posa, Associate General Counsel and Director, Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit.

Statement, attributable to J.L. Childress:

“For over 35 years and two generations, our family has worked to establish a brand that parents can trust and to provide families with products that give them peace of mind while traveling, knowing that their valuable car seats and strollers are protected. We appreciate the partnership with Amazon and hope our joint action will hold all bad actors accountable, as well as educate other small businesses to take due diligence in protecting their brands. Protecting the J.L. Childress trademark is more than just a business function, it is safeguarding our mother’s name and our family’s legacy.”

Additional Background:

You can see the court filing here:

• Case: C20-1215RSM, United States District Court for the Western District of Washington

• Amazon Project Zero
• Amazon Project Zero launches in 7 new countries
• Amazon establishes new Counterfeit Crimes Unit
• Amazon Transparency protects more than 10,000 brands

Amazon has an extensive history of taking action to hold bad actors accountable for fraud and abuse:

• https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazon-establishes-counterfeit-crimes-unit-bring-counterfeiters
• https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazon-and-valentino-file-joint-lawsuit-against-new-york-based
• https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazon-supports-resolution-3m-case-against-fraudsters
• https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazon-supports-investigation-and-prosecution-four-new-york
• https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazon-and-kf-beauty-file-joint-lawsuit-against-counterfeiters