Intellectual Property Law

eBay's Liability for Counterfeit Goods Sold on its Website Decided

By Brian Wm. Higgin

     "eBay tumbled Tiffany's carefully stacked legal arguments," writes law professor and Counterfeit Chic blogger Susan Scafidi.  On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held that eBay is not liable to Tiffany & Co. for the sale of counterfeit goods through its auction website. The court ruled that Tiffany, and similar companies, are ultimately responsible for policing their trademarks online, rather than auction-based companies like eBay. "The court's ruling is in line with well established legal precedent which holds that the obligation to enforce trademarks rests with the trademark holder," wrote eBay in a published statement on its website Monday. 

     You win one, you lose one. In stark contrast to the findings of the New York court, just a few weeks ago the Tribunal de Commerce court in Paris ordered Ebay to pay over $60 million dollars to Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior for allowing the sale of counterfeit merchandise through the company's auction website. The Paris court described eBay's anti-counterfeit measures as "empty."  The court concluded that eBay had committed "serious errors" in permitting the sale of counterfeit goods, which, the court found, violated Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior's copyrights and trademarks. eBay is apparently appealing the ruling. In a published statement on its website, eBay characterized Louis Vuitton's and Christian Dior's lawsuit as an "overreaching...attempt to impose, in France, a business model that restricts consumer choice through an anti-competitive business practice."

Full post as published by Maryland Intellectual Property Law Blog on July 15, 2008 (boomark / email).