Birkenstock warns in IPO filing that knock-offs on Facebook are a top risk
Nordstrom department store display of Birkenstock sandals at the Shops at Merrick Park, Miami.
Jeff Greenberg | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
Birkenstock, the iconic sandal maker founded in 1774, filed its paperwork for an initial public offering on Tuesday, and warned investors of the risks posed by counterfeit brands that use social media to promote their products.
The footwear company, which was started in Germany and is now based in London, plans to go public on the New York Stock Exchange, under ticker symbol “BIRK.”
Birkenstock has long struggled to protect its intellectual property, as copycats have taken advantage of the brand’s popularity and premium prices to try and undercut the company with cheaper alternatives. In its prospectus, Birkenstock says that some of the competition comes from “private label offerings” from retailers, but there are also “knock-off products” that are stealing its IP and trying to convince people on Facebook and elsewhere on the web that the items are authentic.
“In the past, third parties have established websites to target users on Facebook or other social media platforms with ‘look alike’ websites intended to trick users into believing that they were purchasing Birkenstock products at a steep discount,” the filing said. “Should counterfeit products be successfully sold on e-commerce platforms managed by third parties, our brands and reputation could be damaged.”
Birkenstock doesn’t name Amazon anywhere in the 206-page — plus footnotes — filing, but it does say that it has “refrained, and we may in the future refrain, from using certain third-party websites to distribute our products due to the selling of counterfeit products on such platforms.”
Seven years ago, Birkenstock publicly quit Amazon in the U.S. due to an eruption of counterfeit and unauthorized sales on the site. The company also said at the time that it would no longer allow authorized Birkenstock merchants to sell on Amazon.
“The Amazon marketplace, which operates as an ‘open market,’ creates an environment where we experience unacceptable business practices which we believe jeopardize our brand,” then-Birkenstock USA CEO David Kahan wrote in a memo on July 5, 2016, addressed to “our valued Birkenstock partners.”
Kahan, whose title is now President Americas, went on to say that “policing this activity internally and in partnership with Amazon.com has proven impossible.”
Prior to its departure from Amazon, legions of Chinese sellers had been promoting Birkenstock’s flagship Arizona sandal for $79.99, or $20 below the retail price, according to CNBC’s reporting at the time.
Since 2016, according to the prospectus, Birkenstock has “significantly expanded” its direct-to-consumer efforts in e-commerce in the U.S. For the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2022, that channel represented 38% of revenue, the company said, adding that “one of our strategies is to continue to increase the proportion of our revenues from e-commerce.”
Subsequent to the Amazon clash, Birkenstock sold a majority stake in the company to LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton in February 2021. After the IPO, L Catterton will continue to own a majority of Birkenstock, according to the filing.
“We see ourselves as the oldest start-up on earth,” the company said in the filing. “We are a brand backed by a family tradition of a quarter of a millennium with the resilience, timeless relevance, and credibility of a multigenerational business.”
Facebook parent Meta is well aware of the efforts taken by counterfeiters on its platform. In 2021, Facebook and luxury brand Gucci filed a joint lawsuit in California, alleging that a user of Facebook’s U.S. sites was using the platform to sell fake Gucci products.
The companies said in a statement that over a million “pieces of content were removed from Facebook and Instagram in the first half of 2020, based on thousands of reports of counterfeit content from brand owners, including Gucci.”
In the six months ending March 31, Birkenstock’s revenue climbed 19% to 644.2 million euros, or $693.2 million. Net income over that stretch dropped 45%, largely due to a foreign exchange loss.
The logo for Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 17, 2021.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
A U.S. judge on Friday finalized his decision for the consequences Google will face for its search monopoly ruling, adding new details to the decided remedies.
Last year, Google was found to hold an illegal monopoly in its core market of internet search, and in September, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled against the most severe consequences that were proposed by the Department of Justice.
That included the proposal of a forced sale of Google’s Chrome browser, which provides data that helps the company’s advertising business deliver targeted ads. Alphabet shares popped 8% in extended trading as investors celebrated what they viewed as minimal consequences from a historic defeat last year in the landmark antitrust case.
Investors largely shrugged off the ruling as non-impactful to Google. However some told CNBC it’s still a bite that could “sting.”
Mehta on Friday issued additional details for his ruling in new filings.
“The age-old saying ‘the devil is in the details’ may not have been devised with the drafting of an antitrust remedies judgment in mind, but it sure does fit,” Mehta wrote in one of the Friday filings.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has previously said it will appeal the remedies.
In August 2024, Mehta ruled that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act and held a monopoly in search and related advertising. The antitrust trial started in September 2023.
In his September decision, Mehta said the company would be able to make payments to preload products, but it could not have exclusive contracts that condition payments or licensing. Google was also ordered to loosen its hold on search data. Mehta in September also ruled that Google would have to make available certain search index data and user interaction data, though “not ads data.”
The DOJ had asked Google to stop the practice of “compelled syndication,” which refers to the practice of making certain deals with companies to ensure its search engine remains the default choice in browsers and smartphones.
The judge’s September ruling didn’t end the practice entirely — Mehta ruled out that Google couldn’t enter into exclusive deals, which was a win for the company. Google pays Apple billions of dollars per year to be the default search engine on iPhones. It’s lucrative for Apple and a valuable way for Google to get more search volume and users.
Mehta’s new details
In the Friday filings, Mehta wrote that Google cannot enter into any deal like the one it’s had with Apple “unless the agreement terminates no more than one year after the date it is entered.”
This includes deals involving generative artificial intelligence products, including any “application, software, service, feature, tool, functionality, or product” that involve or use genAI or large-language models, Mehta wrote.
GenAI “plays a significant role in these remedies,” Mehta wrote.
The judge also reiterated the web index data it will require Google to share with certain competitors.
Google has to share some of the raw search interaction data it uses to train its ranking and AI systems, but it does not have to share the actual algorithms — just the data that feeds them.” In September, Mehta said those data sets represent a “small fraction” of Google’s overall traffic, but argued the company’s models are trained on data that contributed to Google’s edge over competitors.
The company must make this data available to qualified competitors at least twice, one of the Friday filing states. Google must share that data in a “syndication license” model whose term will be five years from the date the license is signed, the filing states.
Mehta on Friday also included requirements on the makeup of a technical committee that will determine the firms Google must share its data with.
Committee “members shall be experts in some combination of software engineering, information retrieval, artificial intelligence, economics, behavioral science, and data privacy and data security,” the filing states.
The judge went on to say that no committee member can have a conflict of interest, such as having worked for Google or any of its competitors in the six months prior to or one year after serving in the role.
Google is also required to appoint an internal compliance officer that will be responsible “for administering Google’s antitrust compliance program and helping to ensure compliance with this Final Judgment,” per one of the filings. The company must also appoint a senior business executive “whom Google shall make available to update the Court on Google’s compliance at regular status conferences or as otherwise ordered.”
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wears the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, as he delivers a speech presenting the new line of smart glasses, during the Meta Connect event at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S., Sept. 17, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
Meta is acquiring artificial intelligence wearable startup Limitless, the companies said Friday.
“We’re excited that Limitless will be joining Meta to help accelerate our work to build AI-enabled wearables,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.
Limitless makes a small, AI-powered pendant that can record conversations and generate summaries.
Limitless CEO Dan Siroker revealed the deal on Friday via a corporate blog post but did not disclose the financial terms.
“Meta recently announced a new vision to bring personal superintelligence to everyone and a key part of that vision is building incredible AI-enabled wearables,” Siroker said in the post and an accompanying video. “We share this vision and we’ll be joining Meta to help bring our shared vision to life.”
The world of AI wearables has been slowly growing this year, but no company has landed a standout product.
Meta’s Ray-Ban smartglasses, which have been a surprise hit, have a sprinkling of AI flavor with the inclusion of the company’s AI digital assistant.
There are several wearable devices available that are similar to Limitless.
Friend offers a pendant-style device, Plaud comes in a small card shape or pill that can be clipped on or worn around your neck or on your wrist, and Bee, which is worn on a wristband and was scooped up by Amazon in July.
Amazon also runs AI through its Alexa+ line of Echo Speakers, while Google‘s Pixel 10 phones have the Gemini assistant built in.
WATCH: Meta is visibly seeing a return on investment from AI.
CNBC’s Chris Eudaily contributed to this report.
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