HBO Unleashes Their Legal Dragons Over Bootleg 'Game of Thrones' Merchandise
By TheBlast Staff on May 29, 2018 at 3:59 AM EDT
Winter is coming early for an online store that has allegedly been selling "Game of Thrones" merchandise without permission and HBO is coming after them harder than Jon Snow goes after the Night King.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, HBO says they are the owner of all registered and unregistered copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property rights associated with the hit show.
But that hasn't stopped TeeChip.com, a site that HBO claims has been manufacturing and selling products with "GoT" trademarks all over them. HBO claims that since at least July 2016, TeeChip has been selling t-shirts, cups, hats, and bags with "Game of Thrones" logos, quotes, or character names.
In the suit, HBO claims they put TeeChip on notice for its infringing activities, but they have continued to sell the items anyway.
HBO is suing for copyright infringement, trademark counterfeiting, and infringement of registered trademarks. They are seeking damages from the profits TeeChip made off the merchandise ... plus treble damages in the amount of three times the profits "for willfully and intentionally, directly and/or indirectly, using a mark or designation, knowing such mark or designation is a counterfeit."
The Blast attempted to reach out for TeeChip for comment through their contact us form. All we got back was an automated response about Intellectual Property.
