Davey Winder
Monday, 30 June 2008 21:24
Business IT -
Technology
Page 1 of 2
eBay has been warned about counterfeit goods being sold online before. Now a French court has given them 65 million reasons to get their act together.
You are more likely to see Christian Dior Couture, Dior, Givenchy,
Guerlian, Kenzo and Louis Vuitton together on a catwalk or in a
designer shop than in an IT news story. However, the group of six
brands which belong to the
LVMH Group (it stands
for Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy in case you wondered) have won their
place here. Literally.
A French court has found in favour of LVMH which
had accused eBay France of not doing enough to prevent the sale of
counterfeit luxury goods which damaged brands belonging to the group.
The 40 million Euros compensation (AUD $65.8 million) has been awarded
to LVMH and its sister companies, which has also alleged that auctions
for legitimate perfumes from their brands are illegal as they can only
be legally sold through licensed specialist dealers.
The French commercial court seems to agree, and has banned eBay from selling the four perfumes in question from now on.
Vanessa Canzini, representing eBay, says that the ruling has nothing to
do with the fight against counterfeit goods. Indeed, she insists that
eBay removes such items swiftly once discovered. However, Canzini
argues that is has everything to do with protectionism and has promised
to appeal the courts decision.
"Today’s ruling is about an attempt by LVMH to protect uncompetitive
commercial practices at the expense of consumer choice and the
livelihood of law-abiding sellers that eBay empowers everyday" Canzini
said.
Meanwhile, LVMH spokesman Pierre Gode unsurprisingly dismisses this and
claims it was just protecting brands that are considered to be an
important part of French heritage.
Find out who else eBay has had to pay over French fakes on the next page...
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