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Amazon, Cartier slap Chinese social media influencer, 8 others with lawsuits over trademark infringement, false advertising

  • A Chinese social media influencer and eight businesses operating on the mainland are accused of advertising, promoting and selling fake Cartier jewellery
  • The legal action reflects more signs of trouble for merchants belonging to the ‘made in China, sold on Amazon’ community

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Amazon and Cartier’s joint lawsuits filed on June 15, 2022, reflect more signs of trouble for Chinese vendors on the US online shopping platform. Photo: Shutterstock
Yaling Jiang
E-commerce giant Amazon and luxury goods maker Cartier on Wednesday jointly sued a Chinese group for advertising, promoting and selling counterfeit jewellery that infringe on the French firm’s registered trademarks and violate the US shopping site’s policies.
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Two joint lawsuits were filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington against a social media influencer from northern China and eight businesses. They are accused of colluding with each other to sell fake Cartier bracelets, necklaces and rings, and engaging in false advertising through Instagram, social media reference landing page Linktree and other websites.

One of the goods promoted by that group is a replica of Cartier’s Love bracelet, which was disguised as a non-branded product on Amazon and described as “Women’s Fashion Classic Screw Love Titanium Steel Bracelet”, according to a statement from Amazon on Wednesday. It said the advertised product did not mention Cartier, but contained an image that carefully concealed the screw motif of the French firm’s authentic Love bracelet.

On Instagram, the product was clearly advertised as a counterfeit with images bearing the Cartier name and screw motif, Amazon said. When the generic product was bought from the Amazon site, the counterfeit Love bracelet bearing the Cartier trademarks was shipped to the buyer.

Cartier’s iconic Love bracelet was first introduced as part of the French luxury goods maker’s Love collection in 1969. Photo: Handout
Cartier’s iconic Love bracelet was first introduced as part of the French luxury goods maker’s Love collection in 1969. Photo: Handout
The Chinese social media influencer used the handle “Phmn9y3v” on Instagram, while the eight businesses were found to be registered and operating in various cities on the mainland, including e-commerce hubs Shantou and Shenzhen in southern Guangdong province, and Jinhua in eastern Zhejiang province, which is known for its small commodities wholesale market.
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These defendants in Amazon and Cartier’s joint lawsuits could not be reached. The social media and Amazon accounts mentioned in the lawsuits were found to have been deleted as of Wednesday.

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