Hermes defeat class action again on Birkin bags difficult to get

The French luxury brand Hermes has convinced an American judge to dismiss for the second time a lawsuit alleges that violates the antitrust law by forcing buyers to spend thousands of dollars on their products before they can buy one of the famous Birkin bags of the fashion company.

The American district judge James Donato in San Francisco rejected on Wednesday the claims of three Hermes buyers in California that the company was suppressing the competition.

“It can be, as the plaintiffs suggest, that Hermes reserves the Birkin bag for their clients they pay, but that in itself is not an antitrust violation,” Donato wrote in his order.

The judge dismissed the proposed collective claim with prejudice, which means that it cannot be said again.

Hermes, his lawyers and lawyers of the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to the requests for comments.

The lawsuit, presented last year, said that Hermes violated the US antitrust law. Uu. When “tie” or restrict purchases of their Birkin bags from customers with a sufficient sales history with the company.

Consumers described the retail price of a Birkin bag an illusion that “masked a hidden lottery system that forces consumers to buy substantial amounts of Hermes auxiliary products to 'qualify' for the mere opportunity to buy a birkin.”

Hermes and his sales staff “know that many of the people who induce auxiliary products will not get a Birkin bag,” said the demand.

When looking for dismissal, Hermes told Donato that Birkin bag sales, which are handmade and can cost thousands of dollars, take place in a competitive market.

Donato at a hearing last year threw doubts about the claims made by the plaintiffs before dismissing an earlier version of the lawsuit. The judge told the lawyers to the plaintiffs that if Hermes, “he chooses to make five Birkin bags a year and charge them one million, he can do that.”