KM Brothers, Inc. and it’s related companies have agreed to a settlement over their alleged trademark infringement and price gouging of N95 masks. The case was filed on June 8, as part of a 3M nationwide campaign against companies that have been taking advantage of the COVID-19 crisis for profit.
The settlement terms were announced on August 13, for 3M Co. v. KM Brothers Inc., Case No. 2:20-cv-05049, in the U.S. District Court of Central California.
The Amazon sellers KM Brothers Inc, KMJ Trading Inc., Supreme Sunrise Inc., and Mao Yu were ordered by a California U.S. District Court to pay 3M or a charity of their choosing $192,615.69.
The defendants must immediately stop selling 3M products and admit to infringing on 3M’s trademark. They claim they have already stopped selling the masks.
Amazon blocked the seller’s accounts and said they were “proud to be working with 3M to hold these bad actors accountable” in a press release when the suit was filed.
The vendors were using the Amazon platform to sell the 3M manufactured N95 masks at almost 20 times the list price. The Amazon vendor group, owned by Yu sold the masks for around $23.21 each. In court documents, 3M claimed its product sold for $1.27.
