Amazon.com Inc and Italian luxury brand Valentino have filed a joint lawsuit against New York-based Kaitlyn Pan Group for allegedly making counterfeiting Valentino shoes and placing them for sale online.
The development marks Amazon’s first joint litigation with a luxury fashion brand.
Kaitlyn Pan did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
While Amazon has long been rumored to be readying a new luxury fashion site to rival China’s Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury Pavilion, top luxury groups say, the risk of counterfeiting is very high on such platforms.
“Despite multiple notices of infringement and a cease and desist order, Kaitlyn Pan continues to import, distribute, sell, and offer infringing products on kaitlynpanshoes.com,” said both companies while adding, Kaitlyn Pan had tried to apply for a U.S. trademark for the Garavani Rockstud shoes, “flagrantly and willfully disregarding Valentino’s intellectual property”.