American Eagle Outfitters Sues Amazon for Infringing on ‘Aerie’ Trademarks.

American Eagle Outfitters sued Amazon.com on Wednesday, accusing it of willfully infringing on the apparel and accessories retailer’s “Aerie” and “Offline by Aerie” trademarks by directing customers to give away fake merchandise.

In a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, American Eagle said it rejected Amazon’s request for the rights to sell Aerie products on its platform.

American Eagle said it wants Aerie to build its own identity with brand ambassadors like Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman and singer Kelsea Ballerini.

The Pittsburgh-based company said that after warning Amazon on Aug. 9 to stop directing shoppers to fakes and “dupes,” Amazon “attempted to be more creative in its infringement” by using misspellings such as “Aeries” and “Ram”. in sponsored ads.

“AEO protects its brands and cannot allow bad actors like Amazon to confuse and deceive consumers,” steering them toward inferior knockoffs and “diminishing the goodwill, success and popularity of Aerie’s brands,” the complaint says.

Seattle-based Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment after business hours.

The lawsuit seeks treble American Eagle’s actual damages, punitive damages and an injunction to stop further infringement, treble and punitive damages and other remedies.

Aerie was launched in 2006, while Offline by Aerie began in 2020, the complaint says.

American Eagle recently operated nearly 1,500 stores.

Aerie generated 32 percent of the company’s $2.43 billion in net revenue in the six months ended Aug. 3. The namesake American Eagle brand accounted for most of the rest.

The case is American Eagle Outfitters Inc et al v Amazon.com Services LLC et al, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 24-07251.

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