The parent company of MAC Cosmetics, Estee Lauder, has forced Target stores in Australia to remove alleged imitation MAC makeup from their counters in a legal settlement that seems to be everything but settled.
MAC lawyers will not agree to officially settle until executives at Target make a full, public apology admitting they obtained the fake product and will take responsibility for trying to sell them under the guise that they were real, according to Australia's BRW.
The two business entities have been in court since 2012 when Target began selling MAC at extraordinary discounted prices. Target, whose own parent company is headquartered in Perth, Australia, claimed it could sell the products at such low prices because they purchased the products at competitive rates from a U.S.-based wholesaler.
Recognizing this "grey market" practice as legal, Estee Lauder was forced to license MAC makeup exclusively with Target stores in Australia only to learn later on that what was actually being sold to customers was fake.
Estee Lauder complained the formulas found in the products in-store were different from the MAC's proprietary recipes.
Target has since removed the items from their shelves and, according to court documents, has agreed to hand over all promotional marketing materials related to the sale of the MAC products still in its possession, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
In addition, Target has agreed not to violate any of MAC's trademarks, and will give up any beauty products still in its possession that may be fake, as well as pay for Estee Lauder's court expenses.
It also traced the MAC line from a number of wholesalers and made a legal consent not to source the products from those importers anymore, but will be working with U.S. courts to determine if the products were real or fake.
Target, owned by Wesfarmers, one of Australia's largest companies, laid off 260 employees at its Geelong office last week citing company downturn.
