France has fined eBay €1.7 million for not respecting fully a July 2008 injunction against sales of LMVH luxury goods on the online auction site. The web site reportedly let 1,400 sales of the company’s perfumes and other luxury goods slip through the filtering software it installed last year to comply with the court order. eBay was initially accused of not doing enough to stop copies of the company’s products, but the court order applies to fake as well as legitimate LMVH goods, new or used. Alex Von Schiermeister, director of eBay Europe, calls the fine disproportionate.
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A French court ruled against cosmetics multinational l’Oréal Wednesday in a suit it brought against Ebay over profits made from sales of fake goods. The court in Paris said Ebay cannot be held liable but it ordered the two to work together to find a common solution to the online sale of counterfeit goods. The case is the first of several brought against Ebay and, the Financial Times writes, is important because “it is part of a series of lawsuits worldwide about who should be responsible for policing internet sales, particularly in high-value markets.”
