SEATTLE - A Seattle woman is fighting a trendy handbag designer who accused her of trademark infringement for selling her used purses online.
Gina Kim is a former Coach Inc. employee and planned to sell several of her used Coach bags online. But soon after posting them on eBay, she received a threatening cease-and-desist letter from a New York law firm representing Coach.
Inthe letter, Kim was accused of trademark infringement and threatened with a $2 million lawsuit. The letter also demandedKim surrender all her merchandise, never sellany of itagain, admit guilt and send a $300 check to Coach.
Coach s investigation is so slip-shot that apparently it didn t realize she s a former employee, said Kim's Seattle Attorney Jay Carlson.
Her other attorney, Christopher Carney, pointed out Kim s eBay account was deactivated and she has been temporarily banned from the Website.
Kim filed a counter class-action lawsuit against Coach, accusing them of violating the state Consumer Protection Act.
Carlson believes the company is trying to stop people from selling used bags on sites like eBay or Craigslist.
We think they want to force consumers to only buy new Coach products and only buy them in Coach stores, he said.
