Burberry Targets a Popular Store with a Lawsuit over Counterfeiting

Burberry is less than pleased with Target for a collection that looks suspiciously like the famed check print it’s famous for.

So they’ve taken legal action and last Wednesday they filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York accusing Target of trademark counterfeiting, infringement and trademark dilution.

According to the lawsuit, Burberry sent a cease and desist letter back in 2017 regarding the products that look a lot like Burberry’s.

But Target continued to produce the print and even expanded the collection, adding more products.

In the complaint, Burberry states, “Target’s conduct is willful, intentional and represents a conscious disregard for Burberry’s rights.”

The complaint also says the products may cause confusion to its customers as Target’s products “are superficially indistinguishable from genuine Burberry scarves” despite “inferior quality.” (Ouch)

Burberry states the confusion could be caused because Target is well known for collaborations with designers such as Victoria Beckham and Rodarte which “further heightens the risk of such customer confusion.”

Target responded with a statement to InStyle magazine saying, “At Target, we have great respect for design rights. We are aware of the filing by Burberry and hope to address the matter in a reasonable manner.”

Burberry is seeking an injunction to stop Target from making the check pattern products and they’re seeking damages of $2 million for each trademark Target counterfeited. They also want attorney’s fees.

I think Target needs to realize they’re probably going to lose this game.

Check mate, Burberry.