eBay counterfeit fine

The French courts have ordered eBay to pay Louis Vuitton owner, LVMH, €1.7m (£1.5m) for failing to prevent the sale of LVMH products on its website.  
In July 2008, the French courts imposed an injunction barring the sale or purchase of any LVMH products on eBay, irrespective of their authenticity. eBay was fined €40m for not doing enough to prevent counterfeit goods being sold on its site. Since the injunction was imposed, however, more than 1,000 LVMH products have been found on eBay’s site.

eBay has argued that it complied with the ruling by deploying specialist software to try to prevent French consumers accessing LVMH products.
Pam Withers, a partner at intellectual property firm Marks & Clerk, says the ruling proves just how difficult it is to police brands online.

“The fact that LVMH is looking to stop the resale of even authentic products on eBay is a side issue, but one that demonstrates the willingness of luxury goods makers to take a heavy-handed approach and force a clampdown on sales in order to protect themselves from potential counterfeiting”, Withers adds.

“The real, underlying problem LVMH and other brand owners have with eBay remains the belief that the online marketplace is not doing enough to prevent fake goods being channelled through their sites.”