eBay Ordered To Pay For Fake Brands, More To Come?

A French court has ordered online auction house eBay to pay LVMH damages for assisting in the sale of knock offs – while a ruling on a complaint by Tiffany in the US is expected soon. The Financial Times reports:

In spite of Ebay’s claims to have cracked down, in some markets the sale of large numbers of counterfeit luxury goods continues unabated.

After a long-running feud with some of the world’s most famous luxury brands, the moment of truth for Ebay may finally have arrived.

A French court yesterday handed down the most significant judgment to date, ordering Ebay to pay nearly €40m ($63m) to LVMH.

Meanwhile, a judge in the US is due to rule at any time on a similar case brought by Tiffany. “This gives Ebay significantly more incentive to adjust its business model to make it less advantageous for counterfeiters,” said Geoffrey Potter, a US legal expert on counterfeiting issues.

Together, those cases represent the biggest attack on Ebay’s way of doing business in the company’s 13-year history.

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