He can run, but can he hide? A judge declared a default judgment of $7.2 million against Chloé counterfeiter Mohammed Alexander Zarafshan after he failed to respond to the original complaint. As of now, they can't find him.
We've had infringement on our minds, especially since McQueen v. Madden, and this latest development in the sometimes-ambiguous struggle between designers and copycats gives a whopper of a twist. The financial settlement would total three times the profit made by the counterfeiter, who operated under the name Alexander Zar. What happened was, in 1996, Chloé filed suit against Queen Bee, an e-tailer based out of LA, and then later amended its case to focus on Zar. When Zar failed to respond, through a series of filings, the case has now reached the multimillion-dollar mark.
This is a fashion label that may specialize in making beautiful clothing and accessories, but at the very least, the message has been made not to mess with Chloé.
