A California district court judge has rejected Walmart's bid to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Estée Lauder, allowing the case to proceed and expanding its scope beyond the 17 products tested for authenticity. Estée Lauder filed the suit last February, accusing Walmart of facilitating the sale of counterfeit versions of its licensed products by its namesake banner, La Mer, Le Labo, Clinique, Aveda, and Tom Ford, which were sold by third parties on Walmart's website. The complaint also claims Walmart allowed Estée Lauder trademarks to be used in its search engine, enabling the retailer to further profit from those sales. Walmart argued the complaint lacked factual allegations tying it to other products sold by third-party sellers on Walmart.com and that the products were not sufficiently related to warrant inclusion in a single suit. Judge Hernan Vera ruled that Walmart's request for dismissal is unjustified at this stage, opening the opportunity for Estée Lauder to expand its lawsuit beyond the 17 items tested.
Estee Lauder Companies IncJudge rejected Walmart's dismissal bid, letting Estée Lauder's counterfeit suit proceed and expand beyond the 17 tested products.
Walmart Inc.Court allowed the counterfeit-facilitation lawsuit against Walmart to proceed and expand in scope.
