Daimler, the German automaker, has sued Amazon in the Central District of California, claiming that Amazon is complicit in the sale of counterfeit Mercedes-Benz parts online.

The causes of action are for direct trademark infringement, direct counterfeiting, unfair competition, and related claims.

Daimler says that the case arises out of

Amazon’s unauthorized use of Daimler’s trademarks in connection with the advertising, marketing, promoting, distributing, displaying, offering for sale, and/or selling of unlicensed, infringing, and/or counterfeit versions of Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz wheel center caps.

Daimler says the sales aren’t merely third-party sales facilitated by Amazon via the Amazon Marketplace.

Rather, alleges Daimler, “the sales at issue are infringing products that are ‘shipped from and sold by Amazon.com.’”

According to Daimler,

The Counterfeit Report, a consumer advocacy organization, reports that it sent over 32,000 notices of infringing items to Amazon, and many of these items remain listed despite repeated complaints.

Sales of these counterfeits, according to Daimler, displace sales of authentic goods. The shoddy fake goods also damage brands’ reputations.

The suit claims that, despite efforts by Daimler and other brand owners to get Amazon to respect their intellectual property rights and the reputation of their brands, Amazon refused to take reasonable steps to police intellectual property infringement on its site and source products only from authorized manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers.

Daimler is seeking injunctive relief and the recovery of damages, plus triple damages as a penalty for willful infringement.

Last year, Daimler brought a similar case against Amazon for the sale of replica wheels.

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