Lululemon has filed a lawsuit against Costco that accuses the wholesale club operator of selling lower-priced duplicates of some of its popular athleisure clothing.<\/p>\n
Lululemon Athletica claims in its lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California that Costco has \u201cunlawfully traded\u201d on its reputation, goodwill and sweat equity by selling unauthorized and unlicensed apparel that uses knockoff, infringing versions of its patents. <\/p>\n
Lululemon alleges that Costco is known to use manufacturers of popular branded products for its private label Kirkland brand, but that the company and the manufacturers don\u2019t tell consumers of the connection between them for many of the Kirkland-branded products. Because of this, Lululemon claims this leads at least some shoppers to believe that Kirkland-branded products are made by the authentic supplier of the \u201coriginal\u201d products. Lululemon claims Costco doesn\u2019t try to dispel the ambiguity. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs an innovation-led company that invests significantly in the research, development, and design of our products, we take the responsibility of protecting and enforcing our intellectual property rights very seriously and pursue the appropriate legal action when necessary,\u201d a Lululemon company spokesperson said in a statement. <\/p>\n
Some of the products Lululemon says Costco is making duplicates of include its popular Scuba hoodies, Define jackets, and ABC pants. <\/p>\n
Lululemon claims one of the duplicates that Costco sells is the Hi-Tec Men\u2019s Scuba Full Zip, with the lawsuit showing a screenshot image of Costco\u2019s website showing the item priced at $19.97. Lululemon sells several men\u2019s jackets that cost more than $100 each. <\/p>\n
Costco, based in Issaquah, Washington, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
Lululemon is requesting a jury trial and wants Costco to stop selling the products that it considers to be duplicates. It is also seeking an unspecified amount in monetary damages. <\/p>\n