Gucci’s lawyers at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher filed an infringement complaint against Durango Merchant Services, Frontline Processing Corporation, and Woodforest National Bank after Gucci succeeded in shutting down a Web site called TheBagAddiction.com, which was run by a group of counterfeiters selling bogus Gucci items. The complaint accused the three credit card processing companies of soliciting business from Internet sites known to deal in counterfeit goods, including TheBagAddiction.com. “The defendants therefore became a knowing and indispensable participant and agent in the [counterfeiters'] operation,” Gucci alleged.
In their motion to dismiss, the defendants cited a 2007 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Perfect 10 v. Visa, in which the appellate court refused to hold credit card companies liable for the allegedly infringing images of nude models on a pay-for-pornography site.
