Last Friday, on June 27, Lululemon Athletica Canada Inc. accused the American members-only retail giant Costco Wholesale Corp. of selling counterfeit versions of some of its popular products, infringing on Lululemon’s intellectual property rights. These products include sportswear, jackets, and pants.
According to reports from the Canadian Press and Reuters on June 29, Lululemon filed a lawsuit in a federal court in California, alleging that Costco sold knockoff versions of Lululemon’s Scuba hoodies and sportswear, Define jackets, and ABC pants.
The lawsuit claims that Costco’s “imitation products” violate Lululemon’s patent and trademark rights in clothing design, potentially causing confusion among potential customers.
Based in Vancouver, Lululemon discovered that some of these items were sold under Costco’s house brand Kirkland, while others were produced by manufacturers such as Danskin, Jockey, and Spyder.
The lawsuit states, “Some customers mistakenly believe these infringing products are genuine Lululemon products, while others specifically purchase infringing products because they are difficult to distinguish from genuine Lululemon products, especially for downstream buyers or observers.”
Lululemon alleges that these actions exploit its patents and the reputation it has built among customers. The company stated in its 49-page court document that it had attempted to resolve the counterfeiting issue by sending a cease-and-desist letter to Costco but is now seeking court intervention.
Lululemon has requested a jury trial for this case and hopes the court will order Costco to cease production, importation, marketing, and sale of the alleged counterfeit products.
The company also demands that Costco remove any advertisements about the suspected counterfeit products from its online or print materials and seeks the court to compel Costco to compensate Lululemon for any profit losses suffered due to these products.
Costco has not responded to requests for comments from the Canadian Press. The company has yet to respond to Lululemon’s lawsuit.
According to Reuters reports, the case is known as Lululemon Athletica Canada Inc v. Costco Wholesale Corp, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California with case number 2:25-cv-05864.