Online auction haven eBay is to launch an appeal against a court’s decision to slap it with a massive $60.8 million USD (38.6 million Euros) in damages for permitting the sale of fake luxury products through its site.
eBay hit for $60 million in counterfeit luxury goods case. Image: Bizmac/Flickr.
This latest ruling comes as California-based eBay Inc. continues its legal wrangling with luxury goods and fashion items manufacturer LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which claims that only around 10 percent of the desirable Louis Vuitton bags and Dior perfumes being sold through eBay are authentic.
According to the ruling, which was issued by a court in France, eBay has failed to adequately show that it is doing enough to prevent the sale of counterfeit goods through its auctions.
However, in commenting on the ruling with regard to maintaining its focused standpoint against the sale of counterfeit goods, eBay has outlined that LVMH’s case actually reveals the manufacturer’s intent to have its items only sold through retailers it approves of at a business level.
“When counterfeits appear on our site we take them down swiftly, and today’s ruling is not about our fight against counterfeiting,” said and eBay spokesperson. “It’s 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 every day. We will fight this ruling on their behalf.”
The French court’s decision in favour of LVMH comes hot on the heels of a similar penalty incurred recently by eBay when Hermes International called the auction site it to task for allowing the sale of fake handbags.
eBay is also presently awaiting the verdict of a lawsuit brought forth by jewellery specialist Tiffany & Co., which sued eBay back in 2004 on the grounds that some 83 percent of supposed Tiffany products sold through eBay were counterfeit.
A New York Times article reveals that eBay presently has more than 2,000 international employees scouring across its pages in search of fake goods, which that search team collectively returning a capture rate of around 95 percent. According to eBay, it suspended approximately 50,000 sellers from the service in 2007 alone, and fully blocked a further 40,000 sellers who were already under suspension.
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