A well-known American toy manufacturer sued Alibaba for selling counterfeit goods! Will nearly 100 sellers suffer?

According to foreign media reports, on December 27, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected Alibaba's appeal. The lawsuit involved about 90 merchants who were suspected of selling popular counterfeit children's toys Squishmallows on Alibaba.

The judge said Kelly Toys accused Alibaba of knowingly and assisting merchants on its platform to infringe Kelly Toys' copyright and trademarks.

It’s worth noting that Kelly Toys’ parent company is Jazwares, which in turn is owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

Kelly Toys said in the lawsuit that Alibaba ignored its own "three strikes" policy and still awarded "gold supplier" and "brand certification" logos to some infringing merchants, despite Alibaba's previous insistence in six earlier lawsuits that it would stop the sale of counterfeits.

Kelly Toys sued about 90 merchants selling counterfeit Squishmallows in November 2022 and obtained an injunction two months later. In March 2023, it also named Alibaba as a defendant.

Alibaba previously explained that Kelly Toys did not accuse it of engaging in any infringement and attempted to improperly shift the burden of regulating its intellectual property rights by demanding "harsh" measures against sellers.

At present, Alibaba and its lawyers have not responded. The judge has only dismissed the lawsuit and has not yet made a final ruling.

Editor ✎ Nicole/

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