Lululemon has hit Ross Stores Inc. and one of its suppliers with a lawsuit claiming that the discount retailer has been selling shabby knockoffs of the company’s high-end yoga pants in stores in California.
Vancouver, Canada-based Lululemon Athletica Canada Inc. filed suit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California bringing claims of trademark infringement and counterfeiting as well as state and federal claims of unfair competition against Ross Stores and IOPA Inc., a Los Angeles-based distributor of athletic apparel.
According to the lawsuit, Lululemon representatives bought 20 counterfeit products from Ross-operated dd’s DISCOUNTS stores in San Leandro and Hawthorne for $7.99 each.
“Genuine versions of the Lululemon All The Right Places Pant and Fast and Free Tight sell for $128 each,” wrote the company’s lawyers at Sideman & Bancroft. “Lululemon analyzed the Counterfeit Products and determined that they were among the lowest-quality counterfeit leggings that Lululemon had ever encountered,” they wrote… The Recorder