SEO firm pays huge penalty in counterfeit goods case

An American federal court has decided that a search engine
optimisation company had contributed to offences of trademark infringement and
unfair trading committed by one of its clients.

A website-building, hosting and SEO company had built and hosted an e-commerce website operating under the CopyCatClubs.com
domain. Golf club manufacturer Cleveland Golf filed a complaint in 2009 that
material on the website breached 11 of its trademarks.

Now, after a South Carolina federal judge ruled in favour of
Cleveland Golf, a colleague has ordered that web company to pay $770,750 (more
than £481,000) in damages. The amount is far greater than the $28,250 penalty

Steven Cox

The most experienced member of our copywriting team, Steven Cox spent many years as an offline journalist before joining Lakestar McCann. He has worked as a specialist correspondent for a market-leading transport magazine, a news journalist for major regional newspapers, a commercial features writer with the Manchester Evening News, and a freelance writer and sub-editor. He is now heavily involved in helping Lakestar McCann clients achieve wide coverage through keeping their news feeds updated, as well as in writing and updating on-site copy.