Auctionbytes-NewsFlash, Number 2048 - May 25, 2009 - ISSN 1539-5065      Previous Story |

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
May 25, 2009
Reading AuctionBytes: L'Oreal Issues Statement on eBay Trademark Infringement Case

After eBay UK issued a statement on Friday reporting that the UK High Court had ruled in its favor in the L'Oreal counterfeiting case on all counts, L'Oreal issued a statement about the ruling. "In a decision passed today by the UK High Court of Justice, the court agreed with the view held from the outset by L'Oreal, that eBay could do more to prevent trade mark infringement and suggested 10 measures:

• filter listings before they are posted on the Site;
• use additional filters, including filters to detect listings of not-for-sale products and unboxed products
• filter descriptions as well as titles;
• require sellers to disclose their names and addresses when listing items;
• impose additional restrictions on the volumes of high risk products, such as fragrances and cosmetics, that can be listed at any one time;
• be more consistent in their policies, for example regarding sales of unboxed products;
• adopt policies to combat types of infringement which are not presently addressed, and in particular the sale of non-European Economic Area (EEA) goods without the consent of the trade mark owners;
• take greater account of negative feedback (from site users);
• apply sanctions more rigorously;
• be more rigorous in suspending accounts linked to those of users whose accounts have been suspended."

eBay said the High Court ruled in favor of eBay on all counts and has also referred a number of items to the European Court of Justice for clarification and confirmation. L'Oreal said the UK High Court of Justice considered that the relevant European trade mark law and the eCommerce Directive were unclear and referred nearly all the issues to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for further guidance.