US court bars Aerie from selling Overslept sleepwear in trademark ruling

A U.S. District Court judge has barred Aerie from selling its Overslept sleepwear, finding that the American Eagle Outfitters division adopted the label in bad faith. Judge Loretta A. Preska entered the preliminary injunction on Monday, acting on a trademark suit JS China filed in mid-September.

JS China says it has sold sleepwear under the federally registered Overslept trademark since 2019, with nearly 1.5 million units moved and more than $3.8 million in sales. The suit targeted the Overslept by Aerie line. Aerie pulled the label from its website soon after, but kept it in stores.

The record shows what Aerie knew. A notice in the file shows it saw the plaintiff's Overslept sleepwear online in September 2025, and in October 2025 it ran a trademark search that turned up JS China's mark. That was more than eight months before its own launch.

Preska put it plainly at the hearing in Manhattan federal court. "The court finds that the defendant adopted the infringing Overslept mark in bad faith," she said, adding that the defendant admitted it knew of the plaintiff's mark in the fall of 2025.

The search also showed JS China was the only company in the country using Overslept as a brand for this young people's sleepwear. The judge said the record offers no explanation for why Aerie went ahead with exactly congruent items, sold in the same line of commerce to the same customers.

She added that irreparable harm to JS China "was entirely foreseeable" given the defendant's apparent intention to flood the market in the upcoming holiday season. Sleepwear is a popular gifting category, and the ruling arrives as peak selling nears, although Aerie sells a range of sleepwear besides Overslept.

The order requires Aerie to stop selling merchandise labelled Overslept right away, though taking the goods out of stores would demand a lot of manpower hours. Aerie could decide to change the labels on the products instead of removing them.

Many of the pyjamas carry heat-sealed labels, which would have to be covered so consumers could not see them, according to Marc Greenwald, the Quinn Emanuel partner representing JS China. "It's not a copyright case involving the design," he said. "It's the branding" that is contested.

"JS China is gratified that the court recognized the incontestable trademark for the Overslept brand and stopped Aerie's bad faith use of the trademark," Greenwald said. He added that Aerie knew of the mark, searched for it and decided to proceed with its branding and launch regardless.

An American Eagle Outfitters representative said: "As a matter of policy, we do not comment on pending litigation," adding that, given the judge has directed the parties to work together on next steps, reporting on the story now is premature.

The company behind the mark

New York-based JS China makes women's apparel under several brand names, including Breakfast in Bed, End of Story, Grumpy & Gorgeous and Not a Morning Person. It wholesales to stores such as Charlotte Russe, Burlington and Urban Planet.

Aerie's leadership had promoted the line two weeks before the hearing. At the Wharton Baker Retailing Center CEO Summit in Manhattan, Jennifer Foyle, president and executive creative director of the Aerie and American Eagle brands, said more square footage was going to Overslept because it was doing so well.

Foyle said Aerie had not necessarily launched Overslept by Aerie as a brand yet. Sleepwear, she said, started "taking hold" at Aerie last year, and that prompted the launch of the Overslept by Aerie line.

What happens next

If the parties do not reach a settlement, the lawsuit could go to trial, and the judge could call for a permanent injunction, damages for infringement, or both. American Eagle can also appeal the preliminary order.

Neither side has said what that will involve for the Overslept stock still in Aerie's stores, or whether relabelling or removal will be chosen.

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Image: Courtesy of Aerie.com