New Delhi

On Wednesday, American Eagle Outfitters sued Amazon.com for knowingly infringing on the trademarks of the clothing and accessories retailer's "Aerie" and "Offline by Aerie," sending customers to knock-off merchandise.

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American Eagle turned down Amazon's application for the rights to sell Aerie products, the clothing and accessories retailer said in a Manhattan federal court complaint.

American Eagle said it wanted Aerie to establish its own identity with brand ambassadors such as Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman and singer Kelsea Ballerini.

The Pittsburgh-based company said that after giving Amazon a heads-up on Aug. 9 about halting the directing of shoppers to knock-offs and "dupes," Amazon "tried to be more creative in its infringement" by using misspellings such as "Aeries" and "Aries" in sponsored advertisements.

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"AEO protects its brands and cannot allow bad actors like Amazon to confuse and deceive consumers" by directing them to inferior knock-offs, and "piggyback off the goodwill, success, and popularity of the Aerie marks," the complaint said.

Amazon, based in Seattle, did not immediately return requests for comment after market hours.

The suit seeks triple American Eagle's actual damages, punitive damages, and an injunction against further infringement, triple and punitive damages, and other relief.

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Aerie was launched in 2006, while Offline by Aerie began in 2020, according to the complaint.

American Eagle recently operated nearly 1,500 stores.

Aerie generated 32 per cent of the company's $2.43 billion of net revenue in the six months ending Aug. 3. The Namesake American Eagle brand accounted for most of the rest.