A French tribunal has ordered eBay to pay €80,000 to the Louis Vuitton group of companies in compensation for “brand counterfeiting”. LVMH alleged that eBay had purchased search engine keywords which then linked to counterfeit goods.
An LVMH spokesman said, “the court found that in using key words from certain LVMH brands, eBay had commited several acts of counterfeiting.” The tribunal turned down a request for €4million in damages, but said that eBay will have to pay €1,000 for each future infringement.
Last year, the Paris commercial court fined eBay €40million for allowing the sale of fake perfumes, and banned the listing of the Christian Dior, Kenzo, Givenchy and Guerlain brands.
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