eBay fined over sales of counterfeit Hermes goods

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From The Sydney Morning Herald

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sydney Morning Herald

eBay fined over counterfeit goods
June 5, 2008 - 6:08AM




Online auction giant eBay has been convicted of selling counterfeit goods and ordered to pay 20,000 euro ($32,497) in damages to French luxury group Hermes, Hermes' lawyer said.
The ruling, which marks a first in France, found eBay directly responsible for the sale on its website of three Hermes bags including two fakes, for a total of 3000 euro.
"We are satisfied that they should be considered counterfeiters", said lawyer Emmanuel Colomes, who had been seeking 30,000 euro in damages for complicity in the sale of counterfeit goods.
At the trial in April, Hermes' lawyer argued that eBay was more than a mere host for the counterfeit items.
"eBay is an active player in the transaction because not only does it offer a number of services to improve the sale, but when it does not work well enough or fast enough, they intervene with the client," Colomes argued.
"They are perfectly informed of the transactions since they take a percentage cut."
Luxury fashion houses Louis Vuitton and Dior Couture have also taken legal action against eBay before the Paris commercial court, respectively seeking 20 million euro and 17 million euro in damages.
Both brands accuse eBay of complicity in the sale of counterfeit goods by allowing buyers and sellers to transact without imposing any controls.
Also in France, the auction industry took legal action against the online giant last December, accusing it of encouraging trade in pirated and stolen goods.
And in a potentially major case, the cosmetics giant L'Oreal last September launched legal action against eBay in five European countries including France, over the sale of bottles of counterfeit perfume.
AFP

What a win - hopefully this makes eBay more vigilant with the sale of counterfeit goods (including MAC) on their site... and also opens the door for more lawsuits from brands being affected by the counterfeit market.

[patty0411]

I think that's a great idea, but....... I think companies should contact the people who are selling the fake items and charge them with selling counterfeit items.

I think it's hard to put all the blame on ebay just because there are probably thousands, if not millions of people who try to sell counterfeit items. They probably do not have enough staff to check each item one by one to sell if the items being sold by a seller is fake or not.

There are a lot of counterfeit items all over the web, especially ebay, and the only way we can prevent this, I think, is to stop purchasing from these buyers or, in general, stop buying brand name items from ebay. (esp high end items ie gucci, chanel, etc)

Another thing, used/tested items are common items that are sold on ebay and that are being listed at NEW. yikes and yuck

[iluffyew769769]

That's crazy! I can't believe they won!

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Quote:

Originally Posted by patty0411

I think that's a great idea, but....... I think companies should contact the people who are selling the fake items and charge them with selling counterfeit items.

I think it's hard to put all the blame on ebay just because there are probably thousands, if not millions of people who try to sell counterfeit items. They probably do not have enough staff to check each item one by one to sell if the items being sold by a seller is fake or not.

There are a lot of counterfeit items all over the web, especially ebay, and the only way we can prevent this, I think, is to stop purchasing from these buyers or, in general, stop buying brand name items from ebay. (esp high end items ie gucci, chanel, etc)

Another thing, used/tested items are common items that are sold on ebay and that are being listed at NEW. yikes and yuck

The problem is that it's very difficult for a company to track down a counterfeit seller if they sell through eBay or an auction site.

After identifying a seller, they have to gather enough evidence, take it to the courts, get a subpoena for eBay to release the seller's details, then pursue the seller. If the seller is in another country, then often there is little that can be done.

By making eBay accountable for their own guidelines (remember eBay say counterfeit goods are prohibited items), it forces the auction site to actually police the auctions that are being listed. It is eBay's job to monitor their auctions and remove listings and ban users that contravene the guidelines.

The fact that eBay might now get fined for not doing so means that they might be more responsive to auctions that are reported to them.

Of course the easiest way to stop counterfeiting is to stop buying these items - but a lot of the time people may not even be aware that they are purchasing a counterfeit item. The auctions are ambiguous or purposely listed as authentic.