The Italian luxury brand of fashion and leather goods Gucci and Facebook, the America-based social media giant, have filed a joint lawsuit in California (US) against an individual who allegedly used the latter’s platforms to sell fake Gucci products, the two companies said.
The initiative, a first of its kind for both Gucci and Facebook, is the latest example of an internet giant joining forces with a luxury label to fight the spread of counterfeit goods being sold via social media. eCommerce major Amazon has filed similar lawsuits over the past year with fashion brands like Valentino and Ferragamo.
In a statement, Gucci and Facebook alleged the unidentified defendant used multiple Facebook and Instagram accounts to avoid security measures already in place and continues to promote her business selling fake Gucci goods. Customers “deserve to be able to shop for authentic Gucci products without fear of being deceived,” they said.
Online sales of luxury handbags, shoes and garments have boomed over the past year as the coronavirus pandemic forced retailers to temporarily close their stores. However, luxury goods makers have long struggled to stamp out counterfeiting, with billions of dollars worth of revenue at stake.
Groups like Facebook are keen to make a bigger push into the luxury market and “social commerce”, but to do so they need to show that their platforms are not a place for counterfeiting and are safe for brands, some of which are reluctant to sell their products through third-party players.
The statement added that “in 2020 alone the actions of Gucci’s in-house intellectual property team had resulted in four million on-line counterfeit product listings being taken down, the seizure of 4.1 million counterfeit products, and 45,000 websites, including social media accounts, being disabled.”
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