ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S APPLICATION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

ROBIN L. ROSENBERG, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE came before the Court upon Plaintiffs Application for Preliminary Injunction (the "Application for Preliminary Injunction"), ECF No. [5], dated September 24, 2014. The Court has carefully considered the Application for Preliminary Injunction, the record in this case, and the applicable law, and is otherwise fully advised in the premises.

By the instant Application, Plaintiff, Chanel, Inc. ("Plaintiff') moves for entry of a preliminary injunction against Defendants1 for alleged violations of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1114 and 1125(a).

The Court convened a hearing on December 16, 2014, which was attended by counsel for Plaintiff only. During the hearing, Plaintiff directed the Court to evidence supporting the Application for Preliminary Injunction. Defendants have not responded to the Application for Preliminary Injunction, nor have they made any filing in this case, nor have Defendants appeared in this matter either individually or through counsel. Because Plaintiff has satisfied the requirements for the issuance of a preliminary injunction, the Court grants Plaintiffs Application for Preliminary Injunction.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND2

Plaintiff is the registered owner of the following trademarks registered on the Principal Register of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (collectively, the "Chanel Marks"):

See Hahn Decl., ECF No. [5-1] at ¶ 4; ECF No. [5-2] (containing Certificates of Registrations for the Chanel Marks at issue). The Chanel Marks are used in connection with the manufacture and distribution of goods in the categories identified above. See Hahn Decl., ECF No. [5-1] at ¶ 4.

Defendants, through the fully interactive, commercial Internet websites and ecommerce stores and auctions via Internet auction websites, operating under their domain names or seller identification names identified on Schedule "A" hereto (collectively, the "Subject Domain Names and Seller IDs"), have advertised, promoted, offered for sale, or sold, at least, handbags, wallets, shoes, boots, belts, brooches, scarves, sweaters, sunglasses, watches, cases for telephones, protective covers for portable electronic devices, including cell phones, perfumes, costume jewelry, including necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings, bearing what Plaintiff has determined to be counterfeits, infringements, reproductions, or colorable imitations of the Chanel Marks. See Hahn Decl., ECF No. [5-1] at ¶¶ 9, 11-15; Gaffigan Decl., ECF No. [5-8] at ¶¶ 2-3, 5; Rosaler Decl., ECF No. [5-14] at ¶¶ 4-6.

Although each Defendant may not copy and infringe each Chanel Mark for each category of goods protected, Plaintiff has submitted sufficient evidence showing that each Defendant has infringed, at least, one or more of the Chanel Marks. See Hahn Decl., ECF No. [5-1] at ¶¶ 11-15; ECF No. [5-2]. Defendants are not now, nor have they ever been, authorized or licensed to use, reproduce, or make counterfeits, reproductions, and/or colorable imitations of the Chanel Marks. See Hahn Decl., ECF No. [5-1] at ¶¶ 9, 13, 15.

Plaintiff retained AED Investigations, Inc., a licensed private investigative firm, to investigate the sale of counterfeit versions of Plaintiff's products by Defendants. See Hahn Decl., ECF No. [5-1] at ¶ 10; Gaffigan Decl., ECF No. [5-8] at ¶ 5; Rosaler Decl., ECF No. [5-14] at ¶ 3.

Eric Rosaler ("Rosaler"), an officer of AED Investigations, Inc., accessed the commercial Internet based ecommerce stores operating under the Seller IDs identified in the table below, and placed orders for the purchases of various products, all bearing counterfeits of, at least, one of the Chanel Marks at issue in this action and requested each order be shipped to his address in the Southern District of Florida. See Rosaler Decl., ECF No. [5-14] at ¶ 4. Rosaler finalized payment for each of the Chanel branded products ordered via PayPal, Inc. ("PayPal") to Defendants' respective PayPal accounts as follows:

See Rosaler Decl., ECF No. [5-14] at ¶ 4. Subsequently, Rosaler received the Chanel branded sunglasses and perfume he ordered from Defendants via glasses21000 and michaelwang, respectively, and sent the sunglasses and perfume together with the detailed web page listings, photographs of the Chanel branded products, and the Chains of Custody to Plaintiff for review and analysis. Id.; Hahn Decl., ECF No. [5-1] at ¶¶ 11-12.

Rosaler also accessed the Internet websites operating under the Subject Domain Names, as identified on the table attached hereto as Schedule "C-1," and went through the purchasing process3 for various products bearing counterfeits of, at least, one of the Chanel Marks at issue in this action. See Rosaler Decl., ECF No. [5-14] at ¶ 5. Following the submission of his orders, Rosaler received information for finalizing payment for each of the Chanel branded items ordered via PayPal and/or bank transfer to Defendants' respective PayPal and/or bank accounts, which are also identified on Schedule "C-1" hereto. Id.

Rosaler further accessed the Internet based ecommerce stores and auctions associated with Defendants' Seller IDs, as identified on the table attached hereto as Schedule "C-2," and went through the purchasing process4for various products bearing counterfeits of, at least, one of the Chanel Marks at issue in this action. See Rosaler Decl., ECF No. [5-14] at ¶ 6. Following the submission of his orders, Rosaler received information for finalizing payment for each of the Chanel branded items ordered via PayPal to Defendants' respective PayPal accounts, which are also identified on Schedule "C-2" hereto. Id.

Additionally, Chanel's counsel, Stephen M. Gaffigan, Esq. ("Gaffigan"), accessed the Internet based ecommerce store associated with the Defendant's Seller ID, as identified on the table attached hereto as Schedule "C-3," and went through the purchasing process for a handbag bearing counterfeits of, at least, one of the Chanel Marks at issue in this action. See Gaffigan Decl., ECF No. [5-8] at ¶ 3. Although the purchase was never finalized, Gaffigan received information for finalizing payment for the Chanel branded handbag he ordered via PayPal to Defendant's PayPal account, which is also identified on Schedule "C-3" hereto. Id.

The detailed web page listings and images of the Chanel branded earrings, sunglasses, perfume, and cufflinks purchased by Rosaler from Defendants via caylajewel, glasses21000, michaelwang, and smsd14717, respectively, as well as the sunglasses and perfume received by Rosaler via glasses21000 and michaelwang together with photographs of same, were reviewed by Plaintiffs representative who determined the products to be non-genuine, unauthorized Chanel products. See Hahn Decl., ECF No. [5-1] at ¶¶ 11-12, 15. Plaintiff's representative also reviewed and visually inspected Defendants' websites and ecommerce stores and auctions, as well as pictures of items bearing the Chanel Marks offered for sale by Defendants via their Subject Domain Names and Seller IDs, and likewise determined the products were not genuine Chanel goods. See id. at ¶¶ 13, 15.

On September 23, 2014, Plaintiff filed its Complaint, ECF No. [1], against Defendants for trademark counterfeiting and infringement, false designation of origin, and common law unfair competition. On September 24, 2014, Plaintiff filed its Ex Parte Application for Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary Injunction, and Order Restraining Transfer of Assets, ECF No. [5]. On November 21, 2014, this Court entered a sealed Temporary Restraining Order, ECF No. [11], enjoining Defendants from, among other actions, continuing to manufacture, promote, and/or sell any product bearing Plaintiffs alleged infringed trademarks. The Temporary Restraining Order also directed PayPal to restrain funds in payment accounts associated with Defendants and to transfer those funds to a holding account.

On December 2, 2014, Plaintiff filed a Notice of Inability to Serve Defendants, ECF No. [13], and simultaneously filed its Motion to Extend Temporary Restraining Order, dated November 21, 2014, and to Continue Hearing Scheduled for December 5, 2014 in Connection with Plaintiffs Application for Preliminary Injunction, ECF No. [14], to avoid prejudicing Defendants' right to appear and respond in a timely fashion, because Plaintiffs counsel had not received confirmation from PayPal that Defendants' accounts had been restrained. On December 4, 2014, this Court entered an Order Granting Plaintiffs Motion to Extend Temporary Restraining Order and to Continue Hearing in Connection with Plaintiffs Application for Preliminary Injunction, ECF No. [16], continuing the hearing on Plaintiffs Application for Preliminary Injunction until December 16, 2014. Pursuant to the Court's November 21, 2014 and December 4, 2014 Orders, Plaintiff provided Defendants with notice of the new hearing date and copies of the Court's November 21, 2014 Temporary Restraining Order and Plaintiffs Ex Parte Application for Entry of Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary Injunction, and Order Restraining Transfer of Assets via e-mail to each Defendant's corresponding e-mail address, and by posting copies of the same on the website located at http://servingnotice.com/omg18/index.html. Thereafter, Certificates of Service were filed confirming service on each Defendant, ECF Nos. [18, 19, 20, and 21].

II. LEGAL STANDARD

To obtain a preliminary injunction, a party must demonstrate "(1) a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; (2) that irreparable injury will be suffered if the relief is not granted; (3) that the threatened injury outweighs the harm the relief would inflict on the non-movant; and (4) that the entry of the relief would serve the public interest." Schiavo ex. ref Schindler v. Schiavo, 403 F.3d 1223, 1225-26 (11th Cir. 2005); see also Levi Strauss & Co. v. Sunrise Int'l. Trading Inc., 51 F.3d 982, 985 (11th Cir. 1995).

III. ANALYSIS

The declarations Plaintiff submitted in support of its Application for Preliminary Injunction support the following conclusions of law:

A. Plaintiff has a strong probability of proving at trial that consumers are likely to be confused by Defendants' advertisement, promotion, sale, offer for sale, or distribution of goods bearing counterfeits, reproductions, or colorable imitations of the Chanel Marks, and that the products Defendants are selling and promoting for sale are copies of Plaintiffs products that bear copies of the Chanel Marks.

B. Because of the infringement of the Chanel Marks, Plaintiff is likely to suffer immediate and irreparable injury if a preliminary injunction is not granted. The following specific facts, as set forth in Plaintiff's Complaint, Application for Preliminary Injunction, and accompanying declarations on file, demonstrate that immediate and irreparable loss, damage, and injury will result to Plaintiff and to consumers because it is more likely true than not that:

C. The balance of potential harm to Defendants in restraining their trade in counterfeit and infringing branded goods if a preliminary injunction is issued is far outweighed by the potential harm to Plaintiff, its reputation, and goodwill as a manufacturer and distributor of quality products, if such relief is not issued; and

D. The public interest favors issuance of the preliminary injunction in order to protect Plaintiff's trademark interests and protect the public from being defrauded by the palming off of counterfeit goods as Plaintiff's genuine goods.

E. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a), Plaintiff may be entitled to recover, as an equitable remedy, the illegal profits gained through Defendants' distribution and sales of goods bearing counterfeits and infringements of the Chanel Marks. See Reebok Int'l, Ltd. v. Marnatech Enters., Inc., 970 F.2d 552, 559 (9th Cir. 1992) (quoting Fuller Brush Prods. Co. v. Fuller Brush Co., 299 F.2d 772, 777 (7th Cir. 1962) ("An accounting of profits under§ 1117(a) is not synonymous with an award of monetary damages: `[a]n accounting for profits . . . is an equitable remedy subject to the principles of equity.'"))

F. Requesting equitable relief "invokes the district court's inherent equitable powers to order preliminary relief, including an asset restraint, in order to assure the availability of permanent relief." Levi Strauss & Co. v. Sunrise Int'l Trading Inc., 51 F.3d 982, 987 (11th Cir. 1995) (citing Federal Trade Commission v. United States Oil and Gas Corp., 748 F.2d 1431, 1433-34 (11th Cir. 1984)).

G. In light of the inherently deceptive nature of the counterfeiting business, and the likelihood that Defendants have violated federal trademark laws, Plaintiff has good reason to believe Defendants will hide or transfer their ill-gotten assets beyond the jurisdiction of this Court unless those assets are restrained.

IV. CONCLUSION

Accordingly, after due consideration, it is hereby

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Plaintiff's Application for Preliminary Injunction, ECF No. [5], is hereby GRANTED as follows:

(1) Each Defendant, its officers, directors, employees, agents, subsidiaries, distributors, and all persons in active concert or participation with any Defendant having notice of this Order are hereby restrained and enjoined until further Order of this Court as follows:

(2) Each Defendant, its officers, directors, employees, agents, subsidiaries, distributors, and all persons in active concert or participation with any Defendant having notice of this Order shall immediately discontinue, until further Order of this Court, the use of the Chanel Marks or any confusingly similar trademarks, on or in connection with all Internet websites, domain names, and ecommerce store and auction website businesses owned and operated or controlled by them under their Subject Domain Names and Seller IDs;

(3) Each Defendant, its officers, directors, employees, agents, subsidiaries, distributors, and all persons in active concert or participation with any Defendant having notice of this Order shall immediately discontinue, until further Order of this Court, the use of the Chanel Marks, or any confusingly similar trademarks within domain name extensions, metatags or other markers within website source code, from use on any webpage (including as the title of any web page), from any advertising links to other websites, from search engines' databases or cache memory, and any other form of use of such terms which is visible to a computer user or serves to direct computer searches to websites and Internet based ecommerce store and auction website businesses registered by, owned, or operated by each Defendant, including the Internet websites and Internet based ecommerce stores and auctions operating under their respective Subject Domain Names and Seller IDs;

(4) Each Defendant shall not transfer ownership of the Internet websites and Internet based ecommerce store and auction website businesses under their Subject Domain Names and Seller IDs during the pendency of this Action, or until further Order of the Court;

(5) The domain name Registrars for the Subject Domain Names are directed, to the extent not already done, to transfer to Plaintiffs counsel, for deposit with this Court, domain name certificates for the Subject Domain Names;

(6) Plaintiff may enter, and continue to enter, the Subject Domain Names into Google's Webmaster Tools and cancel any redirection of the domains that have been entered there by Defendants which redirect traffic to the counterfeit operations to a new domain name or website and thereby evade the provisions of this Order;

(7) The domain name Registrars for the Subject Domain Names shall immediately, to the extent not already done, assist in changing the Registrar of Record for the Subject Domain Names, excepting any such domain names which such Registrars have been notified in writing by Plaintiff have been or will be dismissed from this action, to a holding account with a Registrar of Plaintiffs choosing (the "New Registrar"). To the extent the Registrars do not assist in changing the Registrars of Record for the domains under their respective control within one (1) business day of receipt of this Order and instructions on the change of the Registrars of Record, the top-level domain (TLD) Registries (or their administrators) for the Subject Domain Names, within five (5) business days of receipt of this Order, shall, change or assist in changing, the Registrar of Record for the Subject Domain Names, excepting any such domain names which such Registries have been notified in writing by Plaintiff have been or will be dismissed from this action, to a holding account with the New Registrar. As a matter of law, this Order shall no longer apply to any Defendant or associated domain name dismissed from this action. Upon the change of the Registrar of Record for the Subject Domain Names, the New Registrar will maintain access to the Subject Domain Names in trust for the Court during the pendency of this action. Additionally, the New Registrar shall immediately institute a temporary 302 domain name redirection which will automatically redirect any visitor to the Subject Domain Names to the following Uniform Resource Locator ("URL") http://servingnotice.com/omg18/index.html whereon copies of the Complaint and all other documents on file in this action are displayed.

Alternatively, the New Registrar may update the Domain Name System ("DNS") data it maintains for the Subject Domain Names, which link the domain names to the IP addresses where their associated websites are hosted, to NS1.MEDIA TEMPLE.NET and NS2.MEDIATEMPLE.NET, which will cause the domain names to resolve to the website where copies of the Complaint, Temporary Restraining Order, and all other documents on file in this action are displayed. After the New Registrar has effected this change, the Subject Domain Names shall be placed on Lock status, preventing the modification or deletion of the domains by the New Registrar or Defendants;

(8) Upon Plaintiffs request, the privacy protection service for any Subject Domain Names for which the Registrant uses such privacy protection service to conceal the Registrant's identity and contact information are ordered, to the extent not already done, to disclose to Plaintiff the true identities and contact information of those Registrants;

(9) Each Defendant shall preserve, and continue to preserve, copies of all computer files relating to the use of any of the Internet websites and Internet based ecommerce store and auction website businesses under their Subject Domain Names and Seller IDs and shall take all steps necessary to retrieve computer files relating to the use of the Internet websites and Internet based ecommerce store and auction website businesses under their Subject Domain Names and Seller IDs that may have been deleted before the entry of this Order;

(10) Upon receipt of notice of this Order, PayPal, Inc. ("PayPal")5and its related companies and affiliates shall, to the extent not already done, immediately restrain all funds, as opposed to ongoing account activity, in or which hereafter are transmitted into the PayPal accounts related to Defendants and associated e-mail addresses identified on Schedule "B" hereto and the following specific PayPal account recipients:

as well as all funds in or which are transmitted into (i) any other related accounts of the same customer(s), (ii) any other accounts which transfer funds into the same financial institution account(s), or any of the other PayPal accounts subject to this Order; (iii) any other PayPal accounts tied to or used by any of the Subject Domain Names and Seller IDs identified on Schedule "A" hereto; and (iv) any other PayPal accounts associated with or related to the domain names or ecommerce stores and auctions, and e-mail addresses identified on Schedule "B" hereto;

(11) Upon receipt of notice of this Order, PayPal and its related compames and affiliates shall, to the extent not already done, immediately restrain all funds, as opposed to ongoing account activity, in or which hereafter are transmitted into PayPal accounts linked to, associated with, or that transmit funds into Defendants' identified bank accounts,6including but not limited to:

and any other related accounts of the same customers;

(12) PayPal shall also, to the extent not already done, immediately divert to a holding account for the trust of the Court all funds in all PayPal accounts related to the PayPal account recipients listed in Paragraph 10, supra, and any other related accounts of the same customer(s), and all PayPal accounts linked to, associated with, or that transmit funds into, including but not limited to, Defendants' identified bank accounts listed in Paragraph 11, supra, and any other related accounts of the same customers, as well as any other accounts which transfer funds into numbers are identified on Plaintiffs Notice of Filing Reference List, filed under seal, which shall be disclosed to PayPal to effectuate the relief ordered herein. the same financial institution account(s) as any of the other PayPal accounts subject to this Order;

(13) PayPal shall further, to the extent not already done, within five business days of receiving this Order, provide Plaintiffs counsel with all data which details (i) an accounting of the total funds restrained and identifies the PayPal account(s) which the restrained funds are related to, and (ii) the account transactions related to all funds transmitted into the PayPal account(s) which have been restrained. Such restraining of the funds and the disclosure of the related financial institution account information shall be made without notice to the account owners until after those accounts are restrained. No funds restrained by this Order shall be transferred or surrendered by PayPal for any purpose (other than pursuant to a chargeback made pursuant to PayPal's security interest in the funds) without the express authorization of this Court;

(14) This Order shall apply to the Subject Domain Names and Seller IDs, associated domain names and ecommerce stores and auctions, and any other websites, domain names, seller identification names, ecommerce stores and auctions, or PayPal accounts which are being used by Defendants for the purpose of counterfeiting the Chanel Marks at issue in this action or unfairly competing with Plaintiff;

(15) Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1116(d)(5)(D), Plaintiff shall maintain its previously posted bond in the amount of Ten Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($10,000.00), as payment of damages to which Defendants may be entitled for a wrongful injunction or restraint, during the pendency of this action, or until further Order of the Court. In the Court's discretion, the bond may be subject to increase should an application be made in the interest of justice;

(16) PayPal or any Defendant or PayPal account holder may petition the Court to modify the asset freeze set out in this Order; and

(17) This Order shall remain in effect during the pendency of this action, or until further Order of this Court.

SCHEDULE "C" DEFENDANTS' RESPECTIVE PAYPAL AND/OR BANK ACCOUNTS

1) Eric Rosaler's Investigation — Internet Websites

2) Eric Rosaler's Investigation — ecommerce stores and auctions

3) Stephen M. Gaffigan's Investigation — ecommerce store