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French Court Finds eBay Liable for Sale of Counterfeit Handbags
A French court has fined eBay France €20,000 for failing to take sufficient measures to guard against the sale of counterfeit Hermès handbags by an eBay vendor. The lawsuit, which was brought by luxury goods maker Hermès International, sought to hold eBay France and an affiliate, as well as the individual vendor, liable for counterfeiting. The court rejected eBay’s argument that it was simply an intermediary that had no control over the content placed by its vendors on the eBay site. The court further found that the prohibitions in eBay’s general terms of use were insufficient to discharge eBay’s duty to guard against misuse of its site, and that eBay should require vendors to provide means of identification for the objects that they sell (such as product and serial numbers or authenticity certificates).
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