![Fanatics Lawsuit Counterfeit Cybersquatting](https://www.sportico.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Fanatics4.webp?w=1280&h=722&crop=1)
Fanatics has sued more than 220 websites, alleging a variety of infractions from trademark infringement to counterfeiting in the latest move by a major sports business to try to curtail the billions of unlicensed sports jerseys, t-shirts and other merchandise that is sold each year.
Michael Rubin’s company last week filed the suit in Miami’s federal district court against sites such as Fanatics2023.com and FanaticsMLB.shop, which are operated by unidentified persons described in the complaint as residing, working or redistributing products in foreign countries. Fanatics alleges federal trademark counterfeiting and infringement, false designation of origin, cyber-squatting, common law unfair competition, and common law trademark infringement.
Fanatics is the lone plaintiff, despite the fact that many of the sites also appear to be using trademarks and IP from some of the company’s biggest sports partners, including the NBA, NFL and NHL. Those same leagues engage in their own efforts to stem counterfeiting and unlicensed goods in a veritable “Whac-A-Mole” game not unlike efforts to curb illegal streaming of live sports.
The Fanatics complaint says the sites “are causing individual, concurrent, and indivisible harm to Fanatics and the consuming public by depriving Fanatics of its right to determine the way its trademarks are presented to the public through merchandising; defrauding the public into thinking Defendants’ goods and services are valuable, authorized goods and services of Fanatics; deceiving the public as to Fanatics’ sponsorship of and/or association with Defendants’ goods and services and the websites; and wrongfully trading and capitalizing on Fanatics’ reputation and goodwill and the commercial value of its trademarks.”
Among other reparations, Fanatics is seeking a court order to permanently restrain these websites and their operators from appearing online. Fanatics wants injunctions that domain name registries and online service providers would be compelled to follow. The case is before U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas.
Some of the websites’ domain names, such as FantaticsNBAshop.com, FactoryFanatic.com or NFLJerseyStore2022.com, attempt to appear as if they might be connected to Fanatics or their league partners. Others, like AllStitchedjerseys.com or TopGradeJersey.com, feature domain names geared more toward a particular product. All of them, Fanatics argues, are engaged in unlawful and counterfeit activities and infringe on registered trademarks.
Last year, the licensing arms of the NBA and NHL filed a similar suit against counterfeit websites. Often cybersquatting cases end with default judgments, where the website operators fail to respond or participate in the litigation and judges issue orders against them. Sometimes these operators use aliases and other measures to try the same schemes under different names.
In addition to its own website, Fanatics operates the online stores for the NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, Nascar and the PGA Tour, plus a number of college athletic departments. The company also makes licensed goods on behalf of companies like Nike, while also holding many licenses to make its own apparel. Fanatics raised money late last year at a $31 billion valuation.
This is not the only major active legal battle involving Fanatics—the company is currently fighting trading card rival Panini in the Southern District of New York over alleged antitrust violations and tortious interference.
The timing of this counterfeiting lawsuit is also likely not a coincidence. Like many retail companies, Fanatics does a large amount of business in November and December, as people look for holiday gifts. These unauthorized sites likely see similar traffic jumps at the same time in the calendar.