Lush accuses Amazon of infringing its trademark

A cosmetic brand Lush has filed complaints against online retail giant Amazon for alleged infringement of its trademark. 

Lush, famous for its handmade bath products, accused the online retail giant Saturday of “bullying businesses to use its services” when Lush refused Amazon to sell its products.

According to documents filed in court, the search field on the Amazon website showed alternative products that were not made by Lush upon the search term of their brand name. Amazon reportedly has also bid on Google Adword “Lush Bath Products” not to show any Lush products.

Mark Constantine, the cofounder of the cosmetics company, criticized Amazon of “piracy capitalism.” “It doesn’t have a viable business model. The only way it can afford to run it is by not paying tax,” he said. 

Depending on the court rulings expected early next year, Lush may be able to prevent other online retailers including Amazon from making alternative products appear on both search fields within their individual sites.

By Yoon Ha-youn, Intern reporter

(yhayoun@heraldcorp.com)