eBay ordered to pay $63 million to LVMH |
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| Monday, 30 June 2008 | |
 A French court ordered eBay to pay 40 million euros ($63 million) to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. The verdict: eBay didn’t do enough to stop sales of counterfeit goods on its site. The commercial court found that eBay had committed “serious errors” by allowing the sales of fake LVMH goods
and violating the sales distribution network set up by Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior Couture. eBay should be forcing sellers to post more product information to guarantee authenticity, like series numbers.
The ruling also prohibits the sale of four perfume brands – Christian Dior, Kenzo, Givency and Guerlain- stating these brands should only be distributed through selected retailers with trained staff. eBay, the world's largest online auctioneer, said it would lodge an appeal and said the decision was not a victory for copyright law. "This decision is not based on combating counterfeit material. It is based on LVMH's desire to protect its commercial practices and exclude competition," a spokeswoman for eBay in Paris told AFP. A full transcript of the decision is to be posted on the eBay sites in English and French within the next three weeks, the court ordered Source: Louis Vuitton |
The court issued a cease and desist order to eBay, barring it from running ads for the perfume and cosmetic brands or face a fine of 50.000 euros per day.