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New York – Beauty giant Estée Lauder is taking Walmart to court, alleging the retail giant has been selling counterfeit versions of its high-end products online. The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court, claims Walmart’s website featured fake Aveda, Clinique, La Mer, Le Labo, and Tom Ford items.
According to Estée Lauder, these alleged knock-offs bear trademarks “identical with, substantially indistinguishable from, or confusingly similar” to their genuine products. The company even purchased and tested some of these items, confirming they were not authentic Estée Lauder merchandise. As an example, the lawsuit highlights a “Intense Peach” perfume sold by Walmart, which Estée Lauder claims is a blatant copy of its Tom Ford “Bitter Peach” fragrance, both sporting similar orange packaging.
The lawsuit further asserts that Walmart was aware of these trademark infringements on Walmart.com and has done “very little” to verify the authenticity of products sold on its platform.
Estée Lauder is seeking financial damages and a court order to prevent Walmart from continuing to sell these allegedly counterfeit items and any other products infringing on their trademarks. Both Estée Lauder and Walmart have yet to respond to requests for comment on the ongoing legal matter.