Melrose.com Shuts Down Following Rolex Challenge

Melrose.com, once a leading e-tailer of men’s watches, has shut down, the result of a copyright challenge from Rolex, court papers show. 

At press time, no site was appearing at the URL Melrose.com. 

Rolex sued Melrose.com in July 2012 for trademark infringement, alleging the site was selling versions of its products with counterfeit parts. The watch brand also charged the company was violating anti-cybersquatting statutes, complaining that Melrose-owned sites such as Rolexwatchforum.com featured unauthorized use of the company’s trademarks.

At the time, owner Krishan Agarwal denied the counterfeiting charges to JCK, saying, “If you put aftermarket rims on a Ford Mustang, it doesn’t mean it’s not a Ford Mustang. “

But on Sept. 12, a California federal court issued a final consent judgment in favor of Rolex, which ordered Agarwal to surrender Melrose.com and related domains, and to pay Rolex $8.5 million in damages.

Agarwal did not return a request for comment from JCK, but told Internet Retailer: “Melrose and Rolex settled the case amicably out of court and I’ve left the industry.”

In an August 2012 press release, Agarwal trumpeted his company’s landing on Internet Retailer’s Top 1000 list, with revenues of $10.6 million in 2011. That increased to $12.5 million in 2012, the publication said.

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JCK News Director

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