Coach awarded 573 Domains and $257 Million Dollars
Coach the luxury goods manufacturer has won a landmark case against various business and individuals that were operating websites selling counterfeit goods.
I don’t know if Coach will ever see the $257 million dollars but I am pretty sure they will get their hands on the domain names.
What do you think Coach will do with these domains? Redirect them to the Coach.com their official website or Shall they ensure all the site are offline and don’t resolve.
The total lists of domains I havent found yet but I do remember reading about this back in 2009 when the case was originally started.
I just hope they don’t get the domains and then let them all drop… I would expect that most don’t get traffic unless there are some typo domains or domains like… Coachhandbag.com or coachbag.com, I don’t know if either of those two domains are subject in this case.
What are your thoughts?
You can read the full story here.
This judgment is the latest victory in Coach’s campaign against counterfeiters. Coach launched its comprehensive anti-counterfeiting litigation campaign, known as “Operation Turnlock” in May of 2009. Operation Turnlock was designed to make business increasingly more difficult for those involved in any aspect of trafficking in counterfeit goods.
“The magnitude of this judgment underscores the severity and illegality of counterfeiting, and sends a clear message that our courts will enforce the law. This judgment should serve as a warning to everyone involved in any aspect of trafficking in counterfeit goods that Coach will find you and will seek to impose the harshest penalties available against you,” said Todd Kahn, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Coach.
“In addition to the award, obtaining the domain names used by defendants in this case is a tremendous achievement. All the illegal websites operated by defendants include the word “Coach” in the domain name (also known as the website address) which potentially confuses consumers into believing that they are purchasing genuine Coach merchandise,” said Nancy Axilrod, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Coach.
Since the inception of Operation Turnlock, Coach has filed lawsuits and obtained significant monetary awards against virtually every link in the chain of counterfeit distribution, including manufacturers, wholesalers, retail operators, those operating websites, as well as flea market operators and landlords who provide a location from which others sell counterfeit merchandise.
Coach, with headquarters in New York, is a leading American marketer of fine accessories and gifts for women and men, including handbags, men’s bags, women’s and men’s small leathergoods, weekend and travel accessories, footwear, watches, outerwear, scarves, sunwear, fragrance, jewelry and related accessories. Coach is sold worldwide through Coach stores, select department stores and specialty stores, and through Coach’s website at www.coach.com. Coach’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol COH and Coach’s Hong Kong Depositary Receipts are traded on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the symbol 6388.