We are pleased to announce our representation of a global e-commerce platform specializing in fast fashion with a dominant digital market presence in the Middle East, Europe and elsewhere before the Abu Dhabi Court against a brand impersonator operating three copycat stores in the emirate.
Due to the infringer’s knowledge that our client does not normally operate physical stores (besides the occasional pop-up), the infringer opened and operated physical stores under our client’s brand name, thereby misleadingly attracting UAE customers into believing that this branded e-commerce shopping giant has finally opened a physical store.
The infringer was also selling merchandise bearing the platform’s trademark whilst also operating a severely aggressive social media marketing campaign with slogans saying that our client has finally decided to open physical stores, thereby prompting us to seek injunctive proceedings against the infringer, ultimately leading to raids being conducted and the infringing merchandise being seized and banned from circulation in the market.
The Abu Dhabi Court also issued inter alia a permanent injunction against the infringer prohibiting them ever selling any merchandise bearing the brand name whilst ordering them to cease exploitation our client’s trademarks via digital or social media advertising/marketing campaigns, thereby making this verdict, which has been affirmed by both the Courts of Appeal and Cassation, a landmark outcome in the realm of intellectual property and brand enforcement law.
This outcome should provide international brands with comfort that the local courts provide adequate legal remedies against copycat impersonators with the aim of deterring and punishing both physical and digital infringements to their intellectual property rights.
