Hut Group pays damages to Fred Perry

The Hut Group has paid damages to the Fred Perry

after it was found to have sold counterfeit jumpers bearing the fashion brand's name and logo on its websites.

The online retailer sold fake jumpers bearing the words Fred Perry and the brand's Laurel Wreath logo, which are both registered trademarks of Fred Perry, on www.thehut.com, www.zavvi.com and www.sendit.com as well as through its Ebay and Amazon outlets.

In settling the dispute, The Hut Group accepted that it had infringed Fred Perry’s trademark rights by selling counterfeit items and paid damages and legal costs to the company. It also agreed not to sell such infringing garments in future.

A spokesman for The Hut Group told the Manchester Evening News: "This is the first time in the nine years The Hut Group has been selling online that this has happened. "The moment we found out we stopped selling the product and we are happy the situation has been settled."

In a statement Fred Perry said: "We are extremely proud of our heritage and iconic Laurel Wreath logo.

"We will not hesitate to enforce our intellectual property rights when they are infringed and we will continue to take action against the sellers and manufacturers of counterfeit versions of our garments."