BOCA RATON, Fla. — Patagonia, the popular clothing company, is suing a Boca Raton company for its role in manufacturing and selling counterfeit products to retailers.
Patagonia is asking a judge to force JPC Apparel to give the company its profits, remaining counterfeit products and damages worth up to $150,000 for each work infringed at the company’s decision.
The lawsuit, which the company filed in federal court, comes as the government reports an increase in the value of fake merchandise coming into the country.
Susan Scafidi, who is the academic director for the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham University, said these types of copyright cases are common. She also said she’s noticed an increase in the amount of cases being filed as tariffs make goods more expensive, and dupes become more acceptable in society and gain appeal to consumers on a budget.
“I have seen an uptick in litigation over the past year or two,” Scafidi said. “That is to say, with the rise of dupes, it's becoming a situation where brands decide that it is worth suing, it is worth making themselves publicly a harder target."
FAKES INCREASING
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the value of products seized for violating intellectual property increased from $2.9 billion in 2022 to $7.3 billion in 2025, a 152% increase over a four-year period.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said the global trade in counterfeit goods was valued at approximately $467 billion, or 2.3% of total global imports. The group estimated counterfeit goods made up about 4.7% of total EU imports and mostly came from China.
Scafidi said these fake products are often not subject to tariffs because they are often snuck across the border, which can make these products even cheaper compared with more authentic products. She said these products are often worse products.
“If these are actually counterfeits, then you're buying something that is almost certainly of lower quality,” Scafidi said. “So you think you're buying Patagonia, you think you're getting a deal on Patagonia. Instead, you get something that might fall apart after a few wears."
She also said there are other social concerns, like the conditions of the people who created the clothes.
In the lawsuit, Patagonia said it conducted its own investigation into articles of clothing it found being sold at multiple retailers locations across different states. The company said customers posted videos showing the blacked-out labels and poor quality of the jackets.
The company said it believes a middle man sold the products to the retailer on behalf of JPC Apparel, knowing the products were fakes.
Patagonia said the products were sold as “Famous Maker Insulated Jackets” for $60, a reduction from $100. The company argues the fakes will hurt their ability to make money and reputation as a company.
“Defendants are causing and will continue to cause irreparable injury to Patagonia’s goodwill and business reputation, and dilation of the distinctiveness and value or the famous and distinctive PATAGONIA trademarks in violation of Florida law," the lawsuit reads.
WPTV reached out to Patagonia to learn more about their motivation for suing the Boca Raton based company and their process for protecting their products, but didn’t hear back by publication.
Scafidi said companies like Patagonia, are more likely to sue if the company creating a counterfeit product is larger. WPTV’s Ethan Stein found JPC Apparel and their owner, Jules Capon, were sued by The North Face Apparel Corporation in August 2011 for creating counterfeit products with their logo.
A judge ruled on behalf of North Face after no response was filed by Capon or any of the other 28 defendants in the case.
Capon told WPTV’s Ethan Stein he didn’t want to talk about the case when reached by phone Monday night.
