HOUSTON -- American Eagle Outfitters is suing two competitors, alleging they are selling T-shirts with illegally copied trademarks.
American Eagle Outfitters Inc., Retail Royalty Company, AEO Management Co., and AE Outfitters Retail Co. sued Qaisar Dar, Charu Prasanna, and New Dimension Textiles Group LLC of Katy, Texas, March 14 in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas, alleging copyright infringement, trademark counterfeiting, federal trademark infringement, and federal unfair competition.
According to the suit, the defendants violated the plaintiffs’ federally registered trademarks, the Flying Eagle design and the Natural Eagle design, marks that appear on the entire line of American Eagle clothing.
The complaint states “In an effort to exploit AEO’s enormous popularity and good will, the defendants have sold infringing apparel bearing unauthorized copies of the AEO marks and AEO copyrighted works." The complaint includes photos of T-shirts manufactured by the defendants, and alleges the trademark violations have “created consumer confusion.”
American Eagle is a well-known and popular brand among 15-25 year olds, according to the complaint
The suit says the defendants started selling clothing that violated the trademarks held by plaintiffs in 2015.
In January 2016, according to the complaint, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office personnel entered a warehouse owned by defendants and seized more than 38,000 “items of infringing apparel.”
The defendants seek monetary damages and are represented by attorneys Craig McDougal, Laura Miller and Christin J. Jones of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP of Atlanta.
Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas Case number 4:17-cv-00819