Amazon And Valentino Jointly Sue New York Designer For Counterfeiting Shoes

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN and Italian luxury clothing company Valentino have filed a joint lawsuit against New York-based Kaitlyn Pan Group and its owner Hao Pan for selling counterfeit products.

What Happened

The two companies in a joint statement Thursday said Kaitlyn Pan sold counterfeit versions of the "iconic Valentino Garavani Rockstud shoes" on Amazon's e-commerce platform, in violation of Valentino's intellectual property rights and Amazon's seller policies.

Kaitlyn Pan's seller account was dismissed by Amazon in September last year, but the clothing company has continued to sell the counterfeit shoes on its own website, the companies alleged.

"The vast majority of sellers in our store are honest entrepreneurs but we do not hesitate to take aggressive action to protect customers, brands, and our store from counterfeiters," Amazon Vice President for Customer Trust and Partner Support Dharmesh Mehta said in the statement.

Why It Matters

This is the first time that Amazon has joined hands with a luxury fashion brand to sue a seller on its platform, and it's also Valentino's first joint litigation with an online retailer, the two companies noted.

Amazon has been looking to start a digital luxury fashion platform this year and compete with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA in the sector, according to a report from Women's Wear Daily in January.

Luxury fashion brands have been reluctant to do business with the e-commerce giant primarily because of the counterfeit goods on its platform, the Wall Street Journal reported in February.

Price Action

Amazon shares closed 0.5% higher at $2,653.98 on Thursday. The shares traded another 0.3% higher in the after-hours session.