Big Victory for Tory Burch LLC against Cybersquatters

A significant court decision last week went against cybersquatters. Judge Batts of the Southern District of New York federal court awarded Tory Burch LLC $164 million. Judge Batts also ordered that 232 domain names used to sell counterfeit goods be disabled, turned over to Tory Burch, and any offending cites created in the future by any of the defendants can also be disabled without the need of another lawsuit.

The Burch case follows a decision last September (also from the Southern District of New York) in a case brought by Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. and VF Corp’s The North Face against over 100 cybersquatters based in China.

This is a big win for the fashion community. Though it appears unlikely that Tory Burch will actually collect the damage award, it will at least frustrate sales of the counterfeit goods in the US.