A Lululemon Athletica store in Chicago,

Lululemon has hit Ross Stores Inc. and one of its suppliers with a lawsuit claiming that the discount retailer has been selling shabby knockoffs of the company's high-end yoga pants in stores in California.

Vancouver, Canada-based Lululemon Athletica Canada Inc. filed suit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California bringing claims of trademark infringement and counterfeiting as well as state and federal claims of unfair competition against Ross Stores and IOPA Inc., a Los Angeles-based distributor of athletic apparel.

According to the lawsuit, Lululemon representatives bought 20 counterfeit products from Ross-operated dd's DISCOUNTS stores in San Leandro and Hawthorne for $7.99 each.

“Genuine versions of the Lululemon All The Right Places Pant and Fast and Free Tight sell for $128 each,” wrote the company's lawyers at Sideman & Bancroft. “Lululemon analyzed the Counterfeit Products and determined that they were among the lowest-quality counterfeit leggings that Lululemon had ever encountered,” they wrote.

The complaint noted that the alleged counterfeits included Lululemon's trademarked upside-down U seam and tags that said “Designed in Vancouver.”

According to the lawsuit, customers who've purchased the leggings from dd's have taken to the internet to complain about them. The suit cites one instance of what it calls “evidence of actual consumer confusion” where Instagram user @lezlies_closet wrote: “I bought defective LuLuLemon leggings at DD's Discount.” In the video posted to Instagram the user says: “They are originals. Definitely.”

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The complaint cites a separate Instagram user, @thriftnfind_ who wrote: “Wow DD Discount you are selling fake Lululemon.”

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The suit claims that the defendants were either aware or willfully blind to the fact that the goods they were selling were counterfeits given the low price point and the fact that Lululemon only distributes its products through its own retail and outlet stores, website and in high-end yoga studios, gyms and wellness centers. The company also claims that the “thin, cheap polyester blends” used to make the leggings sold at the Ross Stores locations were a far cry from Lululemon's “smooth, four-way stretch Full-On Luxtreme fabric and Lululemon's Nulux quick-drying, sweat-wicking fabric.”

“The harm to Lululemon's brand and goodwill caused by Defendants' conduct is ongoing, as the negative reviews continue to mount, and confirm the confusion and disappointment caused to consumers due to the inferior quality of the counterfeit 'Lululemon' branded goods sold by Defendants,” the company's lawyers wrote.

Sideman & Bancroft's Zachary Alinder was out of the office Thursday and didn't respond to a message seeking comment.

Representatives of Ross Stores didn't respond to a message.

Reached by phone at his office in Los Angeles, IOPA owner Danny Kian declined to comment.