Asia Tech Wire (Sep 26) -- American Eagle Outfitters Inc., a U.S. clothing and accessories retailer, sued Amazon.com Inc. on Wednesday, alleging that Amazon is infringing on its "Aerie" and "Offline by Aerie" trademarks by intentionally steering customers to buy imitation goods.

In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, American Eagle said it rejected Amazon's request to sell Aerie products on its platform.

American Eagle also said that after warning Amazon to stop steering shoppers to cottage products and knock-offs, Amazon "tried to be more creative in its infringement" by using misspellings such as "Aeries" and "Aries" in its sponsorship ads.

American Eagle protects its brand and cannot allow unscrupulous behavior such as Amazon's to confuse and deceive consumers, steer them to inferior copycat products, and "piggyback off the goodwill, success, and popularity of the Aerie marks," the complaint said.