Tiffany & Co. announced it has filed an appeal in the eBay counterfeiting lawsuit in which the judge found that eBay was not liable for contributory trademark infringement.
Patrick Dorsey, general counsel, Tiffany & Co., said, "Unfortunately, the trial court incorrectly held that trademark holders and not eBay are responsible for policing the eBay site. The effect of this is that eBay can continue to profit at the expense of consumers and trademark holders. In our view, this approach makes no sense as a matter of law or policy. Once eBay has reason to know that a specific brand like TIFFANY & CO. is being widely counterfeited and sold, eBay should be compelled to investigate and take action to protect its customers and stop the illegal conduct.”
Tiffany sued eBay in 2004, and is appealing to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
eBay released the following statement: "Tiffany's decision to carry this litigation on after the District Court's decision doesn't do anything to combat counterfeiting. The best way to stop counterfeiting is on-going collaboration between companies, government agencies and law enforcement."
