US Second Circuit Limits Brand Owners' Ability to Stop Counterfeiting on eBay
Thursday 15 July
Thomas Casagrande & Paul Van Slyke review the landmark Tiffany v eBay case and its implications for online sales of counterfeit goods.
On April 1, 2010, a federal appeals court in New York issued a ruling that limits brand owners' ability to stop counterfeiting on the eBay auction website. In a case brought by the well-known luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. against eBay, the court rejected Tiffany's claim that the law requires eBay to search out and remove the listing and sale of all counterfeit Tiffany goods on eBay. The court held that eBay's generalised knowledge that many Tiffany goods for sale on eBay are counterfeit created no liability for failing to undertake efforts to identify and exclude all listing and sale of counterfeit Tiffany goods. The court also rejected Tiffany's attempt to force eBay to stop its search engine advertising - triggered by the Tiffany trademark - of the availability of Tiffany goods on eBay.