Jury awards $1.9 million in counterfeiting case against College Park discount mall

(Akili-Casundria Ramsess/Special to the AJC)

Credit: Nedra Rhone

Credit: Nedra Rhone

(Akili-Casundria Ramsess/Special to the AJC)

A federal jury has awarded $1.9mm to Luxottica Group S.p.A. and Oakley, Inc. in connection with a contributory trademark counterfeiting lawsuit.

The case against Old National Discount Mall (owned by Airport Mini Mall, LLC), a shopping center and indoor flea market in College Park, is one of two lawsuits related to counterfeit sales of pricey sunglasses which was scheduled for trial.

The other involved former U.S. Rep Pat Swindall and his wife Kim, who own Greenbriar Discount Mall, an indoor flea market in an East Point strip mall called Greenbriar Marketplace .

Luxottica Group, the Italian corporation which manufactures luxury eyewear brands such as Coach, Chanel, Oakley, Ray Ban and more, operates over 7,000 retail stores, including LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, and Sunglass Hut.

The copyright infringement suits, filed in U.S. District Courts, are unique in that the court recognized the potential liability of both owners of the stores that sold the fake goods as well as the owners of the mall property on which the fakes were being sold.