Ference & Associates, a boutique intellectual property law firm, announced today that it has secured an $8 million judgment and permanent injunction against sellers of counterfeit Negg® egg peelers on the Amazon.com online marketplace. The plaintiff in this case is Connecticut-based Airigan Solutions, LLC, whose owners invented the Negg® egg peeler.
This judgment prohibits four sellers from manufacturing and selling counterfeit Negg® egg peelers. Judge Arthur J. Schwab of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania awarded the maximum of $2 million in statutory damages per defendant under Lanham Act, for a total damage award of $8 million. This judgment increases the amount of total damages awarded against online sellers of counterfeit Negg® egg peelers to over $185 million.
This is a big win not only for the inventors of the Negg® egg peeler but it shows all hard-working entrepreneurs that it is possible to protect their intellectual property against online counterfeiting,” said Stanley Ference, managing partner, Ference & Associates, based in Pittsburgh, PA.
“Our case should be further encouragement to other manufacturers to enforce their brand’s intellectual property and feel confident that counterfeiters can be legally taken down,” said Sheila Torgan, co-inventor of the Negg® egg peeler. “With good legal representation, your invention remains your property.”
Stanley Ference was assisted in this matter by Brian Samuel Malkin and the team of attorneys and professionals at Ference & Associates.
About Ference & AssociatesHeadquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ference & Associates provides a full range of intellectual property legal services to global and national clients in technology-intensive industries including software, electronics, biotech, and entertainment.