This counterfeit piggy went to market…

Entertainment One ("eOne"), the Canadian company that creates and owns the precocious but tedious Peppa Pig (and her family and friends) have been hard at work suing a plethora of Chinese companies for importing counterfeit merchandise into the US.

The complaint detailed a number of online platforms that had been created with a real look of authenticity, many of which appeared to all but the most discerning Peppa aficionado to be bona fide retailers of legitimate piggy merch. The infringement was made harder to spot by the inclusion of the associated trademarks.

Counterfeit merchandise is a big business. Merchandise for the most popular films and TV shows (think Game of Thrones or Harry Potter) tends to be stocked by mainstream retailers: Primark struck a deal with Warner Brothers to sell some Harry Potter clothing. However, once you begin a search for merchandise from mainstream but less popular programming (especially children's programming) you will find that often only niche retailers that can provide it.

As there are so few physical niche merchandise shops around, those sales are mostly made online where it is easier to fool shoppers into buying counterfeits. We will keep an eye on how this complaint progresses.

If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniel & Co. on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.