David Beckham sues Fake Website selling Products by using his Name
David Beckham has launched another major legal battle against hundreds of online sellers accused of selling counterfeit versions of his designer products, it has been claimed.
The 49-year-old former football star’s name has been featured on several products, including clothing, fragrances, accessories, sunglasses, video games and more – and he has quite a following behind his name. David Beckham is hoping to follow the lead of his wife Victoria Beckham, who last month won her claim against counterfeit websites selling counterfeit goods.
David Beckham is also a director of DB Ventures, who are said to be seeking almost £800,000 from alleged scammers, whom he accused of selling through sites such as Amazon, eBay Etsy and Temu. It is claimed that his company is backed by his rights management company Authentic Brands Group and wants £1.6 million from 492 defendants named in the two lawsuits. Also read – Emily Blunt says she ‘absolutely’ wanted to vomit after kissing some actors
Court documents seen by The Sun say they “maliciously” deceived people into thinking they were buying official becks’s goods. In April, the mega star’s team won a £240 million case against dozens of criminals in the same court but were awarded a total of £352,000.
A source told the publication: “Authentic brands want to put a stamp on this issue and stop people from selling fake David Beckham’s products. They take pride in the quality of their products and people are being cheated without their knowledge. “They think they have a good case.”
Victoria had taken down many “Fake Poosh Websites”
Former Spice Girl Victoria recently took action after nearly 50 websites emerged calling themselves ‘VictoriaBeckham Beauty’. Poosh did not allow them to use its trademarks or images, which were copyrighted by Star years ago. Victoria filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization and Arbitration Center at the beginning of the year.
Now the ruling has been handed down and things went in Victoria’s favour, with the decision makers recording that the sites ‘copied the look and feel’ of Victoria’s official website. It is reported that the four women and two men who registered on the website declined the opportunity to respond to Victoria’s complaint. WIPO was therefore given no other option but to conclude that their activities “constitute a pattern of abusive conduct in bad faith”.
After hearing evidence that what the group was selling was “possibly counterfeit goods”, the domain name was ordered to be transferred. It was an early birthday present for the star, who will soon turn 50 next week with her husband David, 48, and their children.
This isn’t the first time that Victoria has taken action after seeing something she’s not happy with. Interestingly, the star tried to stop historic football club Peterborough United from using their nickname ‘The Posh’ in 2002 – despite the team being known by that nickname for most of its existence.