eBay not liable for fakes
eBay has scored an important victory in court as a federal judge said companies such as jeweler Tiffany & Co. are responsible for policing their trademarks online, not auction platforms like eBay.
Tiffany had sued eBay over the sale of counterfeit jewelry on eBay’s sites.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan in New York said in a Monday ruling that eBay can’t be held liable for trademark infringement “based solely on their generalized knowledge that trademark infringement might be occurring on their Web sites…”
The Tiffany ruling was a welcome twist for eBay, which recently lost a different case stemming from counterfeit luxury goods. Last month, a French court ordered eBay to pay more than $61 million to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, which complained it was hurt by sale of knockoff bags, perfume and clothes. EBay is appealing that ruling.
Sooner or later, courts around the world will have to move to some globalization of their own.
With commerce flowing from national production standards through international distribution – protocols and responsibilities have to move towards conformity.
