Ry-Ban? Hampton Beach shops sued for knockoff sunglasses
Cheap, knockoff Ray-Ban sunglasses, sold to Hampton beachgoers, violate federal law, deceive buyers and harms the company that makes real Ray-Bans, the Luxottica Group alleges in a federal lawsuit.Get more news about
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Beach shop owner Urgen Tsomo, who is named as a primary defendant in the lawsuit, said she bought some of the disputed sunglasses, with Ray-Ban spelled Ry-Ban, from a vendor and was told she wasn’t breaking any law because of the spelling. Tsomo said she hasn’t seen the lawsuit yet, but disputes she harmed the Ray-Ban maker.
“A lot of people say the spelling is wrong,” she said. “That’s why we thought it was allowed.”
A Seacoast pre-teen, who recently bought a pair of imitation Ray-Bans at a Hampton Beach shop, provided a photo showing the knockoffs are branded “Ray-Ban,” exactly like the trademarked brand.
The lawsuit was filed last week in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire by Luxottica of Milan, Italy. Through Manchester attorney Rebecca Christon, the company reports it makes, markets and sells luxury and sports eyewear throughout the world, including Ray-Ban, “the world’s most famous sun eyewear brand.” After the company sent an investigator to buy fake Ray-Bans at three Hampton Beach shops, the evidence was photographed and filed with the civil suit.
Christon did not return a request for her comment, but her lawsuit alleges phony Ray-Bans were bought by the investigator at Tibet Boutique at 239 Ocean Blvd., Life at the Beach at 169 Ocean Blvd. and Ocean Breeze at 83 Ocean Blvd. The lawsuit claims Tsomo is “the principal owner, officer, manager and director” of all three beachfront stores and “the moving force behind those entities’ operations.”Tsomo, from Massachusetts, said she’s been in business on the Seacoast for 25 years and never “knowingly” sold anything illegal. She said “Chinese” vendors sold her “a couple dozen” of the imposter sunglasses, which she stocked in her shops. But the lawsuit accuses her of “counterfeiting activities” and states it seeks to “protect unknowing customers from purchasing low quality and potentially dangerous counterfeit merchandise.”
“Luxottica Group has been and continues to be irreparably harmed through consumer confusion, dilution and tarnishment of its valuable trademarks as a result of defendant’s unlawful actions,” the suit claims.
The suit includes a copy of its registered Ray-Ban trademark it claims was imitated on the knockoffs found in the three Hampton Beach shops. Its investigator saw dozens of knockoffs for sale in those stores on June 6 and bought a pair for $6.99 at each of them, it’s alleged.
Ray-Ban’s classic Aviator and Wayfarer sunglasses, as well as all of its new styles, sell for more than $100 a pair, as seen on the company’s official website.
