EBay Defeats L´Oreal In Its Own Backyard
By: Ainsley Brown
This is a follow up to: L´Oreal Takes eBay To Court.
L´Oreal and eBay should just make up
The pending court case launched in France by L´Oreal against eBay is now in. And it is not good news for L´Oreal. A French court ruled that eBay has sufficient anti-counterfeit measures in place to prevent fake L´Oreal and other branded products from being sold on the site.
This is a real blow to L´Oreal and its strategy of aggressively protecting its brands against counterfeits. EBay had become one of its favorite targets, with in addition to this case there are out comes pending in Britain, Germany and possibly Spain. The French court went beyond just ruling that eBay´s anti-counterfeit measures were sufficient. No or should I say Non. The court ruled that eBay´s measures were sufficient ¨to fulfill its obligations in good faith (The italics are mine).¨
The good faith obligation is of much interest. It means that eBay is not under an absolute obligation to prevent all fake L´Oreal products from being sold on its site, the court made that clear. However, it is under a positive obligation to take all reasonable steps or at a minimum to make its best efforts to prevent counterfeits being sold on its site.
This latest ruling might give L´Oreal cause to pause and rethink how it pursues its legitimate interests – its bands and branding are after all what it is in the business of selling.
The decision is the first victory for the internet auction site in the French courts after losing similar cases brought by LVMH and Hermes. And is a very important one at that, as it could provide guidance to the other courts in Europe or for that matter the rest of the world. While it is true that the French court´s decision does not bind the other in Europe it could be very influential as the French courts are well known for being the most brand protectionist in Europe.
The judge in the case went on to say that the only to stamp out counterfeits was for the band and the e-commerce industry to collaborate in such efforts. And I full agree – both have a vested interest in stopping fakes.
Ainsley, this is indeed a very interesting case. Can you provide a case number? And do you know the names of the parties of the German case?
Thanks, Carsten