LOS ANGELES – Product Partners LLC, creators of the uber-successful Beachbody line of DRTV fitness products, filed a lawsuit against Costco Wholesale Corp., on Tuesday for copyright infringement on its trademarked materials “P90X,” “P90X & Design,” “Beachbody” and “Beachbody & Design.”
P90X is a popular home exercise kit consisting of 13 DVDs and a 90-day workout routine, sold exclusively through Beachbody.com and authorized Beachbody Coaches. The Beachbody trademark, as well as P90X & Design and Beachbody & Design, is used in connection with dietary supplements, meal replacements, diet aids and video cassettes for fitness and dietary instruction.
The filing, in the Western Division of the Central District of California court, against the massive wholesale retailer, along with National Clothing Company Inc. and DOES 1-10, states: “Upon information and belief, at least as early as July 8, 2009, Costco sold counterfeit P90X DVDs,” and “displayed copyrighted promotional video for P90X” in stores in Pennsylvania, Washington and California, without authorization or licensing from the plaintiff.
Costco did not respond to attempts by Response to reach the company for comment.
When the maker of the hit fitness program recently learned of the sale of the products in Costco’s stores, it immediately looked into taking legal action, knowing the product line is sold strictly in direct response channels and could, in no way, be authorized by Product Partners. In fact, counsel for the company warns buyers that any P90X product sold by a retailer, either brick-and-mortar or online, is not a legal copy and may be defective.
“As with every other DR company that creates great products, we vigorously have to protect our intellectual property and the integrity of our products, says Jonathan Gelfand, legal counsel for Product Partners. “It’s too easy to find counterfeit copies out there and it’s deceiving the public.”
Gelfand went on to say that the counterfeiting and the copying of DVDs is a problem that Product Partners is constantly looking out for and addressing. The company gets calls every day from customers who bought what they thought was a genuine P90X for a lower price and then they wind up with a defective DVD, missing a manual, or the disc corrupts a computer. “We will do everything to protect consumers and the integrity of consumers,” Gelfand says.
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