Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Rampant Counterfeiting Seen|in Wedding & Prom Dresses

MANHATTAN (CN) - Counterfeit dresses are rampant in the wedding and prom industry and the counterfeiters make "tens of millions of dollars a year" from it, the American Bridal & Prom Industry Association says in a federal complaint against 37 online merchants.

Trenton, N.J.-based lead plaintiff the American Bridal & Prom Industry Association sued a long list of dotcoms on its own behalf and for 21 businesses and two individual business owners.

"Plaintiffs are victims of a massive Internet counterfeiting scheme to advertise and sell counterfeit products," the complaint states. "Defendants have manufactured, imported, distributed, offered for sale and sold counterfeit goods, including bridal gowns, social occasion dresses, prom dresses and other formalwear bearing counterfeits of plaintiffs' marks (the 'counterfeit products') and continue to do so."

The association claims the counterfeiters mislead customers with "identical and/or confusingly similar" domain names as legitimate vendors.

"Defendants have registered and are using the infringing domain names with the bad faith intent to profit from these marks by fooling customers into believing defendants' websites selling counterfeit products are actually selling authentic plaintiffs' products," the complaint states.

Named as defendants are 9Dresses.com; Amazing-Prom.com; Brideslee.com; DinoDirect.com; Dream-Prom.com; ElleDream.net; FishInTheSky.com; HoneyDress.com; MagieBridal.com; Milanoo.com; MontellaBridal.com; MoorePromDress.com; SeasonMall.com; TiffanyBridals.com; Soobest.com; MaggieBrides.com; Dresstimes.com; FaryBridal.com; LaFemmePromDressesin2012.com; AliExpress.com; BigDayDress.net; DHgate.com; DreamProm.com; eDressesOnSale.com; EliseBridal.com; HoneyBuy.com; KellyProm.com; Micwell.com; MoncheryBridal.com; Tidebuy.com; MorilyBridal.com; Tbdress.com; TuteraBridal.com; Dress-Market.com; PhoebeBridal.com; LaFemmeSale.com, LaFemmeDressesCheap.com, and John Does 1-250 and XYZ Companies 1-250.

The plaintiffs seek $2 million per trademark violation, $250,000 per infringing domain name and damages for counterfeiting, unfair competition, cybersquatting and unlawful deceptive acts.

They are represented by Craig Hilliard with Stark & Stark.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...