Gucci America, Inc. is escalating a legal battle against Lord & Taylor Ecomm LLC by seeking a court order that holds the retailer in civil contempt for refusing to comply with a previously-ordered default judgment. In a memo lodged with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 6, the American arm of the Kering-owned fashion brand claims that Lord & Taylor has flat-out ignored a court order and subsequent notifications requiring it to destroy or surrender counterfeit Gucci products in its possession in connection with the $14 million lawsuit that Gucci waged against it for allegedly offering up fake Gucci goods to unknowing consumers.
A Bit of Background: Gucci filed its lawsuit against Lord & Taylor in November 2023, accusing the retailer of selling products – including handbags, shoes, and belts – that made use of counterfeit versions of its “famous GUCCI trademark and related iconic design marks” via its e-commerce site. Lord & Taylor initially responded to Gucci’s complaint and cooperated with a court-ordered inventory inspection of the counterfeit products still in its possession, including at a warehouse in New Jersey; Gucci determined that all of the examined goods were, in fact, counterfeit. After that, the upscale apparel retailer ignored Gucci’s discovery requests, prompting the court to enter a default judgment in Gucci’s favor this summer.
In the August 2024 default judgment order, a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held Lord & Taylor liable for trademark infringement, counterfeiting, and dilution, and issued a permanent injunction prohibiting Lord & Taylor from selling counterfeit Gucci products. Against that background, the court also ordered the retailer to turn over the counterfeit inventory to Gucci for impoundment and destruction.
Seeking Enforcement
Fast forward to February 6 and Gucci claims in a new filing, as first reported by TFL, that Lord & Taylor has yet again refused to engage with it or the court. Specifically, Gucci maintains that Lord & Taylor has ignored the default judgment order and failed turn over the counterfeit goods at issue, and as a result, it is seeking a motion for contempt and a new court order that authorizes law enforcement to seize the counterfeit goods.
While Gucci is seeking a court order to hold Lord & Taylor in civil contempt for violating the order for default judgment, it asserts that “because [Lord & Taylor] has failed to defend this action, respond to [its] correspondence, or comply with any orders or deadlines set by the Court, [Lord & Taylor] is likely to continue to disregard any further orders by the Court requiring [it] to take action.” As a result, Gucci argues that the only way to make sure that the counterfeit goods do not remain in Lord & Taylor’s possession is if the court issues an order directing the U.S. Marshals Service, or other law enforcement agents, to seize and deliver to it all counterfeit products currently in Lord & Taylor’s possession or otherwise within its control.
Additionally, Gucci wants the court to sanction Lord & Taylor for failing to abide by the court’s orders. Citing precedent from cases, including A.V. by Versace, Inc. v. Gianni Versace, S.p.A., Gucci argues that the standard for civil contempt has been met here: the default judgment was “clear and unambiguous,” the evidence of noncompliance by Lord & Taylor is “clear and convincing,” and Lord & Taylor has failed to act with reasonable diligence.
Notably, Gucci argues that willfulness is not required for a contempt finding, making Lord & Taylor’s continued inaction a sufficient basis for sanctions.
The Latest on Lord & Taylor
The Gucci lawsuit comes against a complicated background for Lord & Taylor, which has struggled to regain its footing in the wake of its bankruptcy filing in 2020 and subsequent acquisition by investment firm Saadia Group. While Saadia relaunched Lord & Taylor (which liquidated all of its stores as of early 2021) as an online-only entity in April 2021, the relaunch was short-lived, as Saadia shuttered last year after defaulting on a $45.3 million loan agreement with White Oak Commercial Finance.
As for the fate of the Lord & Taylor brand, Regal Brands Global, which acquired the Lord & Taylor intellectual property from Saadia in September 2024, says the newest relaunch of the storied department store chain will take place this year.
The case is Gucci America, Inc. v. Lord & Taylor EComm LLC, 1:23-cv-10239 (SDNY).
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