American Eagle Outfitters sues Amazon for infringing ‘Aerie’ trademarks

American Eagle Outfitters sued Amazon.com on Wednesday, accusing it of intentionally infringing the clothing and accessories retailer’s “Aerie” and “Offline by Aerie” trademarks by directing customers to knock-off merchandise.

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

American Eagle said it wanted 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 knock-offs and “dupes,” Amazon “tried to be more creative in its infringement” by using misspellings such as “Aeries” and “Aries” in sponsored advertisements.

“AEO protects its brands and cannot allow bad actors like Amazon to confuse and deceive consumers” by directing them to inferior knock-offs, and “piggyback off the goodwill, success, and popularity of the Aerie marks,” the complaint said.

Amazon, based in Seattle, did not immediately respond to requests for comment after market hours.

The lawsuit seeks triple American Eagle’s actual damages, punitive damages, and a halt to further infringements, triple and punitive damages, and other remedies.

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

American Eagle recently operated nearly 1,500 stores.

Aerie generated 32 per cent of the company’s US$2.43 billion of net revenue in the six months ending 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, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 24-07251.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris Reese and Sonali Paul)