Hermes has won a lawsuit against eBay for selling counterfeit goods with the French court ordering the auction site to pay the French luxury house €20,000.
The court found eBay directly responsible for the sale of two fake Hermes bags on their website, which Hermes argued that eBay was more than a mere host for the counterfeit items.
“We are satisfied that they should be considered counterfeiters”, said lawyer Emmanuel Colomes, who had been seeking 30,000 euro in damages for complicity in the sale of counterfeit goods.
“eBay is an active player in the transaction because not only does it offer a number of services to improve the sale, but when it does not work well enough or fast enough, they intervene with the client,” Colomes argued.
“They are perfectly informed of the transactions since they take a percentage cut.”
The ruling follows law suits filed by Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior filed against eBay in the Paris commercial court which accuse eBay of complicity the sale of counterfeit goods. Each are seeking €20 million and €17 million in damages respectively.
L’Oreal also has an ongoing case with eBay in five European countries over the sale of bottles of counterfeit perfume.
[Via AFP]
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