US based activewear company ALO LLC, owner of the popular Alo Yoga brand, has recently filed a claim against Colorado based company ALO YOGA ALO, LLC (“AYA”) for allegedly creating a muti-jurisdictional fraud scheme designed to impersonate it and infringe its intellectual property. The claim was made in the US District court for the Central District of California.
AYA was incorporated in November 2024 by Qigen Liu and Shoumin Zhu. ALO was incorporated in 2007 and has amassed a worldwide customer base. According to WIPO’s Global Brand Database, ALO has a trade mark portfolio of 338 registered or pending trade marks globally.
ALO has claimed that Zhu of AYA allegedly filed a false Statement of Information stating that he is the CEO of Alo Yoga, which is untrue, then proceeded to submit fraudulent trade mark filings with WIPO and the China National Intellectual Property Administration in an attempt to transfer ownership of ALO’s registered trade marks. Additionally, it is alleged that AYA submitted forged Articles of Organization, fabricated powers of attorney and counterfeited several documents to mislead various trade mark offices. Fortunately, these alleged attempts were unsuccessful.
As well as AYA’s alleged fraudulent activity, ALO has claimed that its trade marks have been infringed on the basis that AYA is either preparing to sell or have already sold counterfeit goods with the intent to pass them off as genuine Alo goods, which is likely to confuse the public. A Google search of “Alo Yoga Alo LLC” brings up the official ALO website. Therefore, AYA’s use of the name is likely to harm the goodwill in the brand. In the UK, ALO could bring a claim for passing off. However, passing off is not a tort under US law so its claim is for trade mark infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition, identity theft and conversion.
This is an unusual case that transcends the usual scope of infringement. ALO is seeking a permanent injunction to prevent AYA from using the ALO or ALO YOGA marks, an order dissolving the company and damages.
If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
