Audi AG has filed a new lawsuit against online auto parts retailer CarParts.com, Inc., accusing the company of selling counterfeit Audi-branded products and engaging in a deliberate scheme to infringe its trademarks. In a complaint filed on June 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Audi alleges that CarParts.com – operating under online storefronts, such as Evan Fischer Auto Parts and CarPartsWholesale – has systematically marketed and sold unauthorized Audi-branded auto parts and accessories without the automaker’s consent.
According to the complaint, Audi, the German automaker owned by Volkswagen AG, asserts that it ranks among the world’s leading luxury automotive manufacturers, generating €64.5 billion in revenue in 2024 and operating over 1,800 dealerships worldwide. Part of Audi’s success stems from its extensive portfolio of federally registered U.S. trademarks, including the AUDI name, its iconic four-rings logo, model designations such as A4, Q5, RS6, and SQ8, as well as sub-brands like QUATTRO and E-TRON, which are “distinctive and famous” and have become “prominently placed in the minds of the public.”
Against this background, Audi alleges that CarParts.com exploited the strength of these marks by selling counterfeit goods, including grilles, through its eBay storefront and corporate websites. In many cases, Audi claims that the products were marketed using Audi trademarks and OEM part numbers, creating the false impression that they were genuine Audi parts. Audi maintains that its team conducted test purchases in December 2024 and March 2025 from CarParts.com’s eBay storefront, receiving shipments in New York that were later confirmed to be counterfeit.
Despite being put on notice by a cease-and-desist letter sent in April 2025, CarParts.com allegedly continued its infringing conduct.
Audi’s sets out claims of trademark counterfeiting, trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and unfair competition via false designation of origin, alleging that CarParts.com’s conduct constitutes willful counterfeiting and has already caused significant irreparable harm to its brand and consumer goodwill. The automaker is seeking a permanent injunction to block CarParts.com from selling any Audi-branded products; the destruction of counterfeit goods; a full accounting and disgorgement of profits; an asset freeze over revenues derived from the infringing sales; statutory damages of up to $2 million per counterfeit mark per type of good sold; treble damages; attorneys’ fees; and litigation costs.
A Broader Global Debate Over Auto Parts, Repair Rights & IP
The Audi lawsuit arrives amid broader legal battles surrounding the sale of replacement and aftermarket parts in both the United States and Europe – where trademark law increasingly collides with evolving debates over competition, intellectual property, and consumer repair rights.
Audi has been at the center of other trademark-centric disputes, particularly in Europe. In a closely-watched case referred by a Polish court, for instance, the Court of Justice of the European Union held last year that Audi could prohibit a third-party supplier from selling radiator grilles that included a cutout designed to accommodate Audi’s four-rings logo. Although the grilles did not display the logo itself, the CJEU determined that use of a component shaped specifically to fit Audi’s trademark-protected emblem infringed the company’s EU trademark rights.
In the U.S. and beyond, the case comes against the backdrop of an intensifying right-to-repair movement. States including New York, Colorado, California, and Minnesota have enacted legislation in recent years expanding consumers’ rights to repair goods using independent parts and service providers. The Federal Trade Commission has likewise indicated its intention to focus on right-to-repair by way of calls for comment and its pursuit enforcement actions targeting manufacturers that allegedly tie warranty coverage to the use of authorized repairers and OEM parts, bringing recent cases against companies, such as Harley-Davidson.
Meanwhile, Tesla has faced antitrust claims from consumers accusing the electric vehicle maker of monopolizing repair services and replacement parts. Although a federal judge in California dismissed those claims in late 2024, ruling that plaintiffs failed to adequately define a cognizable single-brand market, the case – and others like it – reflect the increasing legal scrutiny facing OEMs as repair markets evolve.
While U.S. courts remain hesitant to adopt expansive monopolization or essential facility theories in aftermarket parts litigation, legal action like the Audi-initiated lawsuit against CarParts.com highlights the ongoing tension between brand owners’ enforcement of IP rights and consumers’ and competitors’ access to affordable repairs and replacement parts.
The case is Audi AG v. CarParts.com, Inc., 1:25-cv-04940 (S.D.N.Y.).
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