Chanel made waves in November 2018 when it filed a striking lawsuit against luxury resale platform The RealReal, accusing the company of attempting to “deceive consumers into falsely believing that Chanel has authenticated” the secondhand goods it was offering or that The RealReal had some kind of “affiliation” with the French luxury brand. In its suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Chanel alleged that The RealReal engaged in trademark infringement, false advertising, unfair competition, and false association, while also allegedly selling counterfeit Chanel products.
In response to the suit, The RealReal – which markets itself as a leading authority in authenticated luxury resale – has pushed back, arguing that Chanel’s claims are an improper effort to control the secondary market for its products. The RealReal contends that it uses Chanel’s trademarks purely to identify the goods it resells (a practice it claims qualifies as nominative fair use) and maintains that it does not suggest any sponsorship or endorsement by Chanel.
The lawsuit – one of a couple of particularly-closely-watches cases that Chanel has filed against resellers in recent years – highlights the tension between brand owners and third-party sellers in the fast-growing luxury resale market. Among other things, the case stands to offer guidance on the scope of the fair use defense to trademark infringement, as well as on how resellers may lawfully describe the authenticity of secondhand goods without running afoul of false advertising laws. It may also shed light on the boundaries of a brand’s control over its products post-sale.
Given the significance of the case in the evolving luxury resale landscape, we have compiled a timeline of notable filings and rulings to help you track its developments …
May 5, 2025
Judge Gabriel Gorenstein called on the parties to move the case along, stating that “for nearly two years now, there has been a stay of discovery during which the parties have reported to the court that they are engaged in settlement discussions.” Following repeated stays in discovery, the case is now “one of the oldest … on the court’s docket,” per Judge Gorenstein, who said he will not order discovery to proceed immediately but also warned counsel for the luxury brand and the resale giant that he is “not likely to continue the stay much longer without strong evidence that settlement is imminent.”
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