US wedding dress association takes counterfeiters to court

The US wedding and prom dress industry is seeking millions of dollars in damages from online sellers of fake goods.

In a federal complaint against 37 online sellers the American Bridal & Prom Industry Association claims the counterfeit dress industry is making unscrupulous retailers millions of dollars a year.

"Defendants have registered and are using the infringing domain names with the bad faith intent to profit from these marks by fooling customers into believing defendants' websites selling counterfeit products are actually selling authentic plaintiffs' products," the complaint reads.

To compensate the Association is seeking $2m per trademark violation, $250,000 per infringing domain name and damages for counterfeiting, unfair competition, cybersquatting and unlawful deceptive acts.

The websites targeted in the court filing all look very professional - even featuring reviews from supposed happy customers - but sell dresses at discounts of more than 50 per cent. A similar level of attention to detail was seen in 70 fake retail sites targeted by US officials last month.