Venerable purse maker Coach Inc. has filed federal trademark infringement lawsuits against two Missouri retail stores, including one in St. Louis, accusing them of selling counterfeit handbags.
The suits are part of Operation Turnlock, an effort launched last year by the New York-based purse company to crack down on counterfeit sales of its purses, wallets and accessories.
Since May 2009, Coach has filed more than 260 civil suits in the U.S., seeking to cut down on knockoffs.
Coach filed the Missouri suits Aug. 19 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District against the owners of FYI Trading Co. in St. Louis and Didi's & Gigi's Purse Strings 'N Things in Bowling Green, about 90 miles northwest of St. Louis.
Both suits allege the owners of the stores sold purses branded with the Coach logo that were counterfeits.
Coach is seeking $2 million in statutory damages per counterfeit mark, or ordering the defendants to pay any profits made by the sales, in addition to attorney's fees and expenses.
In the case of FYI Trading Co., a store on Chippewa Street in south St. Louis, an investigator hired by Coach saw about 30 counterfeit Coach purses and accessories at the store in July, the suit says. The investigator bought a patchwork style handbag with Coach's Signature C logo for $59.95 and was told by a store employee that it was not authentic, according to the suit.
A similar authentic Coach purse sells at Coach stores and authorized retail locations for more than $300.
Linda Muether, the owner of FYI Trading, is on vacation and could not be reached for comment, according to a store employee.
Coach's lawsuit against Didi's & Gigi's in Bowling Green alleges the store had about 40 counterfeit Coach handbags when an investigator visited the store in late April, and sold the investigator a counterfeit purse for $64.
Rosie Brock, owner of Didi's & Gigi's in Bowling Green, said she had not yet been served with the lawsuit.
Brock said she had purses with the Coach logo for sale earlier this year that she bought at a flea market in St. Louis, but she said she did not know she was violating any laws by selling them.
"Everyone was buying them, and we assumed they were OK," she said.
Brock said her store pulled the purses off the shelf earlier this year. Her husband, Phil Brock, said the store never sold the purses as authentic Coach purses.
"We're just a little mom and pop store," he said. "We're not making gazillions of dollars."
Coach's anti-counterfeit efforts have not been limited to retailers. In May, Coach sued Chicago, alleging that a city-run outdoor market permitted counterfeit sales. That suit is pending.
Matt Hurd, a lawyer for Chicago, said the city made arrests at the market when it learned that counterfeit bags were being sold.
"It was brought to our attention that they were infringing, and we arrested them," Hurd said.
"We clearly did not know people were infringing."
As part of its effort to stop counterfeit sales, Coach has a link on its website and a hot line number to report counterfeits.
"If the deal seems too good to be true, it probably is," Coach states on its website.
Nancy Axilrod, Coach's associate general counsel, said the company has zero tolerance for anyone involved in the trafficking of counterfeit goods.
"Coach is targeting all possible methods of counterfeit trafficking, including large wholesale operations, small businesses, Internet sites, purse party operators, street vendors and flea markets," she said in a statement.
