Proving Contributory Online Trademark Infringement

While estimates of the harm differ greatly among analysts, the sale of counterfeit and knockoff goods has been reported to cost American creators and producers billions of dollars per year. Online infringement harms many facets of the economy: Trademark owners suffer lost sales and lost brand value; consumers receive inauthentic products, or, at worst, dangerous goods; and federal and state governments lose tax revenues and incur law enforcement costs. In many cases, consumers are not fully aware of the nature of a transaction, since such virtual stores have legitimate-sounding domain names, often accept payment through major credit card companies, and run online advertisements from trusted providers ' all portraying the appearance of legitimacy.