The lawsuit alleges that Asmodee’s trademarks were used without authorisation to deceive Amazon customers about the authenticity of two Dixit Expansion sets.
Amazon and Asmodee Group have jointly filed a lawsuit in the US against two defendants for counterfeiting the card game sets, Dixit: Daydreams Expansion and Dixit: Revelations Expansion. The defendants, based in Brooklyn, New York, attempted to offer the counterfeit products in Amazon’s store, violating Amazon’s policies, infringing on Asmodee’s trademarks and breaking the law.
In July 2020, Asmodee acquired Libellud, which developed the award-winning storytelling game, Dixit. There are now 10 Dixit companion expansion sets, which allow players to supplement their Dixit game with additional story cards. The tenth Dixit expansion set recently launched, commemorating over a decade of success.
The lawsuit alleges that Asmodee’s registered trademarks were used without authorisation to deceive customers about the authenticity and origin of the products and create a false affiliation with Asmodee. Amazon took action by closing the defendants’ selling account and also refunded impacted customers.
“The joint lawsuit with Amazon underlines how the protection of our brands is key for Asmodee,” said Céline Bucki, group legal director of Asmodee. “We want to be sure that people will share the joy of playing with their families and friends, with high quality products, that respect creativity and innovation from our teams, and showcase our manufacturing and distribution partners’ quality standards.”
Amazon says it has invested more than $700m and employed more than 10,000 people to proactively protect its online store from fraud, counterfeit and abuse. The retailer uses industry-leading tools to verify potential sellers’ identities and ensure product listings are authentic, and Amazon’s proprietary systems analyse hundreds of unique data points to verify information provided by potential sellers. In June 2020, Amazon launched its Counterfeit Crimes Unit, a global team dedicated to pursuing counterfeiters and holding them accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
Kebharu Smith, director of the Counterfeit Crimes Unit at Amazon, said: “We make significant investments in industry-leading, proactive controls leveraging advanced machine learning and expert investigators to ensure our store only contains authentic products for sale. If a counterfeiter attempts to take advantage of our customers or partners like Asmodee, our Counterfeit Crimes Unit will hold them accountable through civil litigation or criminal referral to law enforcement.”
