Amazon, Epson Sue Over 30 Entities for Alleged Counterfeiting Scheme

Amazon and Epson sued two dozen entities and 10 John Does for selling counterfeit Epson products on Amazon from January 2023-February 2024, said a trademark infringement lawsuit Monday (docket 2:24-cv-00616) in U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle.

The defendants are a collection of known and unknown entities “who conspired and operated in concert with each other to engage in the counterfeiting scheme,” alleged the complaint. Defendant Muammer Bakan, personally participated in or supervised, the wrongful conduct alleged related to the Selemzar selling account on Amazon.com, and derived a “direct financial benefit” from it, said the complaint.

Similarly, defendants Osman Cellik, Mustafa Cenan, Enes Ceylan, Serhat Dag, Ogun Dalka, Ayce Idil Dis, Aygul Durgun, Erdem Karaman, Levent Keskin, Mumtaz Kerem Nayman, Haci Ali Orcan, Mesut Ozcelik, Gulcihan Salli, Sahin Salli, Fatma Nurten Sanlier, Nihat Telli, Ceylan Ulku, Ramazon Ulku, Engin Ulutas, Yusef Unvermis, Selcuk Yalcin and Omer Turgut Yuce participated in or controlled various selling accounts that derived a direct financial benefit from wrongful conduct, the complaint alleged. The defendants reside either in Turkey or the U.K., it said.

The 10 John Doe defendants, currently unknown to the plaintiffs, work in active concert with each other and the named defendants to “knowingly and willfully manufacture, import, advertise, market, offer, distribute, and sell counterfeit Epson products,” alleged the complaint. Amazon and Epson’s claims arise from business transactions that took place in Washington, it said.

The complaint identified Amazon efforts to protect brands’ intellectual property (IP) and eliminate counterfeit products from its marketplace. Brand Registry, launched in 2017, offers rights owners tools for monitoring and reporting potential infringement, regardless of the brand’s relationship with Amazon, it said. Brand Registry uses machine learning to predict infringement and “proactively protect” brands’ IP; it has a “Report a Violation” tool that lets brands search for, identify and report potentially infringing products through image searches, the complaint said.

Amazon’s Project Zero is a “self-service counterfeit removal tool” brands can use to remove counterfeit listings from Amazon’s stores “within minutes.” Since it launched in 2019, more than 25,000 brands have enrolled in Project Zero, the complaint said. Epson, an early adopter of both programs, used the tools in response to alleged counterfeiting activity described, the complaint said.

At various times from August 2021 to January 2024, the defendants established, controlled and operated 24 selling accounts through which they sought to advertise, offer, distribute and sell counterfeit Epson products in interstate commerce, alleged the complaint. The defendants provided Amazon with names, physical addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, bank information, and either government-issued identification for an individual acting on behalf of the selling account or a copy of a government-issued record or tax document for the entity operating the account, it said.

Amazon identified the defendants and connected them to their selling accounts through their identity documents and “as the primary recipients of the proceeds of the counterfeiting sales for each selling account based on investigation of certain financial information” they provided to Amazon, the complaint said.

The sellers violated their business solutions agreements (BSAs) they were required to sign in order to sell on Amazon's marketplace by engaging in “deceptive, fraudulent or illegal activity,” said the complaint. Under the BSA, the sale of counterfeit products is “strictly prohibited." The BSA requires the seller to hold Amazon harmless against claims or losses arising from a seller’s infringement of IP rights, it said.

After Amazon verified the defendants’ sale of counterfeit Epson products, it blocked their selling accounts “to protect its customers and the reputations of Amazon and Epson,” the complaint said. The e-commerce company also “proactively issued full refunds to customers” who bought purported Epson products from the defendants; the defendants “have not reimbursed Amazon,” it said.

The plaintiffs’ claims include trademark counterfeiting and trademark infringement, false designation of origin and false advertising, violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act and breach of contract. Amazon and Epson seek an injunction preventing the defendants from selling products in Amazon’s stores; an order impounding and permitting destruction of all counterfeit and infringing products; a complete accounting of all amounts due to plaintiffs as a result of the defendants’ unlawful activities; and the maximum prejudgment interest allowed, plus attorneys’ fees and costs.

The plaintiffs also seek an order requiring identified financial institutions to restrain and transfer to them all amounts arising from the defendants’ unlawful counterfeiting activities described, up to a total amount necessary to satisfy monetary judgment in the case, the complaint said.