L'Oreal Bid To Sue Ebay Over Fakes Thrown Out In French Court
PARIS (AFP)--A Paris court dismissed Wednesday an attempt by French cosmetics
giant L'Oreal SA (OR.FR) to sue U.S. online auctioneer eBay Inc. (EBAY) for
EUR3.5 million for selling counterfeit goods.
The French ruling follows one by a Belgian commercial court, which found in
August the world's largest online auctioneer didn't have "a general monitoring
obligation" of what was on offer on its site.
L'Oreal has brought cases against eBay in five European countries, accusing
the firm of not doing enough to prevent the sale of counterfeit goods posted on
its auction and sale sites.
The Paris court said eBay had "fulfilled his duty" and said "preventing the
sale of counterfeit goods on the eBay platform encounters major difficulties
when it comes to perfumes and cosmetics".
Judges found eBay was only helping people to sell goods and couldn't control
the content of its advertisements, and should therefore be considered as a Web
host rather than a Web editor.
The court called for close cooperation between L'Oreal and eBay to clamp down
on forgery, suggesting a mediator be employed. The companies will discuss that
during a new hearing May 25.
Last June, a Paris commercial court ordered eBay to pay nearly EUR40 million
in damages to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (MC.FR) for selling fake luxury
goods, in a ruling cheered as a victory for copyright protection.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-13-090640ET
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