On Wednesday, Preferred Pharmacy Plus, LLC filed a complaint in the District of New Jersey against Convatec Inc. and Bilray Sewell for allegedly accusing Preferred Pharmacy Plus of intellectual property infringement. The accusations, allegedly shared with e-commerce platforms, harmed their business and reputation, according to the complaint.
Preferred Pharmacy Plus, per the complaint, is a reseller of consumer healthcare products that works with Convatec to sell their products online. However, Convatec allegedly “engaged in a coordinated effort to preclude select third-parties from reselling genuine Convatec Products” through accusing the plaintiff of property infringement. The plaintiff claimed that this has harmed their reputation and damaged their goodwill with Amazon and with their customers, even though they are lawfully permitted to resell Convatec products. Convatec accused Preferred Pharmacy Plus of selling counterfeit goods, which caused Amazon to prevent the plaintiff from continuing to sell those products.
Last month, the plaintiff sent Convatec a warning of their intent to sue, to which the defendants’ lawyers “offer[ed] a litany of excuses and failing to address the actual reports made” and cited California case law that was “expressly overruled by the Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit.” These complaints, which have not yet been retracted, can put a reseller like the plaintiff in jeopardy of a full suspension from Amazon, which would significantly harm their business. In order to prevent this from occurring, the plaintiff is suing for declaratory judgment, tortious interference with business relations, and defamation.
The plaintiff is seeking an order that the plaintiff has not infringed upon the defendants’ intellectual property, injunctive relief enjoining the defendants from filing more complaints against them to Amazon and other e-commerce platforms, damages, attorney’s fees and costs, and other relief.
Preferred Pharmacy Plus is represented by Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP.
