It’s hard to scroll through social media these days without seeing someone promoting the latest trends—or their cheaper knock-offs. Influencers can get a lot of attention by offering their followers the opportunity to purchase replicas, or “reps,” of high-end goods at lower prices. This is what counterfeiting looks like in the age of social media: the same promotion of ersatz goods, except, aided by technology, more brazen and more lucrative than ever before.

Recently, Nike won an $11 million jury verdict against one of these new-age counterfeiters, a social media content creator named Nicholas Tuinenburg and his company Divide The Youth Manufacturing (“DTY”). Nike described Tuinenburg as a “counterfeiter influencer” whose content largely comprised the promotion of his own reps and tips on how to obtain counterfeit goods. 

The Business

Tuinenburg partnered with shipping agents and counterfeit goods platforms, such as WeGoBuy, PandaBuy, AllChinaBuy, and SugarGoo. Tuinenburg promoted the reps on his social media accounts, operated Discord servers as marketplaces for reps, and maintained a public Google Sheets spreadsheet cataloging reps for purchase. In exchange for this promotion, the partners paid Tuinenburg a collective $1.22 million between 2020 and 2024. 

The Trial

In December 2023, Nike filed suit against Tuinenburg in the Central District of California. The complaint included eleven causes of action, including federal trademark infringement and counterfeiting, common law trademark infringement and unfair competition, and violation of California’s unfair competition statute. In July 2025, the court largely granted Nike’s motion for summary judgment, finding in its favor on counterfeiting, infringement, and unfair competition on all but one instance of alleged infringement, involving Nike’s DUNK trademark and associated trade dress. The court also granted a presumption of willfulness against Tuinenburg and found that Nike was entitled to attorney’s fees against him. However, the court declined to award Nike its requested $18 million in damages—the maximum allowable statutory damages—and sent the question of damages to the jury.

The Verdict

The trial took place on March 16-19, 2026, and at its conclusion, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Nike, awarding $11 million and finding that Tuinenburg infringed on the DUNK trademark and associated trade dress.

The Upshot

This decision is a decisive victory for brands hoping to fight counterfeiting. It establishes counterfeiting liability for influencers, both directly as counterfeiters and contributorily as promoters and facilitators. This decision will help brands in the future fight counterfeiting operations online. Our Reed Smith attorneys will continue to monitor developments in this area closely to best help our clients with their brand protection goals.