Naruto Lawsuit Smacks Down Hundreds of Lucrative Counterfeiters

There is no denying the might of Naruto. For decades now, the series has reigned as one of the most influential in anime. With its legacy thriving, Naruto still brings in millions upon millions each year in profit. So of course, all eyes are on Naruto now that TV Tokyo has won several lawsuits against counterfeit merchandisers stateside and beyond.

The information comes courtesy of ANN as a new report from the United States District Court in Illinois. On December 18th, the court ruled in favor of TV Tokyo for a trademark infringement lawsuit. Last September, the company filed legal action against a number of online merchants for selling counterfeit Naruto goods.

According to this new report, TV Tokyo filed this particular lawsuit against defendants in China and other foreign regions. However, the suit was made in Illinois as these defendants did business throughout the United States. As such, the case moved forward against 301 defendants which court officials never heard from. As such, a judgement was handed down in favor of TV Tokyo ordering the defendants to stop using the Naruto trademark illegally. Each party was also asked to pay TV Tokyo a sum of $50,000 USD.

This case is hardly a surprise given the number of counterfeit products available for online purchase. According to ANN, this suit by TV Tokyo is just one of many it has filed since May 2023. The company filed 16 other suits in Illinois regarding counterfeit Naruto goods. To date, ten of those cases were ruled in favor of TV Tokyo while seven others are still ongoing.

Obviously, TV Tokyo is protective of the Naruto IP, and it wants to keep its merchandise trademarks safe. The company’s suits are in line with others filed by anime producers as of late. In the past five years, production studios have ramped up their war against piracy. To date, companies like Toei Animation and Shueisha have gone after pirates globally. Now, TV Tokyo is taking the legal battle with counterfeiters, and it has enjoyed quite the streak in court.

What do you make of this Naruto case? Are you surprised by this latest ruling? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!