On June 24, 2014, Diesel filed a legal action in U.S. federal court in New York against 83 websites that are cybersquatting and selling counterfeit products appearing to carry the Diesel label.
The 83 identified websites have created the false impression that they are authorized to sell genuine Diesel goods by using the company’s trademark in the domain name. These sites have sold thousands of replicas of the brand’s high quality products that are counterfeit reproductions of Diesel’s trademarks.
“The unlawful use of Diesel trademarks to sell counterfeit goods through various retail websites around the world injures our customers who think they are buying a Diesel-quality product,” said Renzo Rosso, Diesel’s Founder and President. “In addition, these websites damage the brand’s reputation and goodwill, hindering the distinctiveness of authentic Diesel products’ trademark quality and craftsmanship”.
The lawsuit was filed in US District Court for the Southern District of New York by outside counsel from Arent Fox LLP.
Diesel is strongly committed to the fight against cybersquatting as part of a global program to combat the business of counterfeit products. In 2013, Chinese customs officials confiscated over 70,000 counterfeit Diesel products exiting the country, while European customs withheld another 35,000 items and an additional 15,000 in the first six months of 2014.
In 2014, Diesel initiated an online brand protection program that has proved to be very successful: more than 120 infringing sites have been taken down, with more than 1,000 sellers blocked and a total of about 400,000 items removed.
