PinkLighthouse.com

Why is it that instead of issuing a “cease and desist” order or a similar warning to the people selling on eBay, that Mary Kay Inc. just went ahead and filed lawsuits against these sellers?

Why didn’t they give these people a chance to stop their selling if they wanted to?

Why didn’t Mary Kay Inc. use the VERO program set up by eBay to address the alleged violations of their trademark and copyright? If sellers were violating these guidelines, set up to protect companies, then Mary Kay Inc. can simply file notice with eBay and the offending listings are removed. Apparently what Mary Kay Inc. is alleging is beyond VERO. If sellers aren’t using copyrighted or trademarked material or images in their listings and not trying to sell counterfeit products, then there isn’t much to dispute with eBay.

It’s true.

The case was filed in 2003.

A reader sent me a link regarding the suit:

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-119468614.html

This lawsuit was settled. Rogers also filed a counterclaim.

Just wanted to post this to increase the likelihood that resellers and liquidators will see this. I have posted this on eBay as well.

Mary Kay Inc Files Lawsuits Against Numerous eBay Sellers of Mary Kay Products

Dateline: December 4, 2008

If you sell Mary Kay products on eBay…beware! Mary Kay Inc. may be coming after you.

In the last week, several eBay sellers of Mary Kay products have been served with lawsuits.

You may also be aware of the ongoing lawsuit that Mary Kay Inc. filed against Touch of Pinks Cosmetics, and eBay seller who also runs a separate online store selling Mary Kay products.

I’ve been trying to get the word out to resellers of Mary Kay that MK Inc. is filing hundreds of lawsuits against liquidators.

In doing so, I stumbled across this Mary Kay reseller who is advertising on eBay:

http://www.pinkbargains.com/

They have a fancy store that’s much more professional looking than Touch of Pink.

And ALL the photos in their store appear to be Mary Kay Inc.’s copyrighted photos! It looks like they’re stealing them off the Mary Kay website!

Not only that, but ALL the descriptions of the products are copied verbatim from Mary Kay’s website!

Mary Kay Inc. wants to depose (interogate) Amy Weber again, according to documents filed in the Mary Kay Inc. versus Touch of Pink Cosmetics lawsuit.

Amy Weber traveled to Dallas and gave her deposition to Mary Kay Inc. on August, 28, 2008. The main purpose of that interrogation was for Mary Kay Inc. to “learn more about Defendents’ document management practices, the location and storage of their electronic data, and their document collection and production procedures.”

I just received an email from yet another Mary Kay inventory liquidator that they were served with a lawsuit on Monday. This person has been selling on eBay and her own online store since 2000.

It’s apparent that Mary Kay Inc. is going after anyone who is selling Mary Kay products on eBay and in an online store.

If you sell Mary Kay products on eBay or online, beware! Mary Kay Inc. is on a mission to get rid of you.

PinkLighthouse will keep you informed on how this proceeds.

On November 26th, 2008, defendants Amy and Scott Weber of Touch of Pink Cosmetics filed a Summary Judgment in their continuing proceedings of the lawsuit broungt against them by Mary Kay Inc.

A Summary Judgment is a motion made by one of the parties of a lawsuit before the case goes to trial. In it, the party filing the Summary Judgment puts forth the evidence in their favor and argues that this evidence is so clear that a jury faced with the case could only reach a decision in favor of the party filing the Summary Judgment.