The Brussels Commercial Court delivered its ruling yesterday, in which it dismissed L'Oreal's claim that eBay was responsible for counterfeits being sold on auctions on its site.
The court said that eBay does not have "a general monitoring obligation" of what it offers on the website and that it was not required to police its site to prevent counterfeit goods from being sold.
In September last year, L'Oreal, the French cosmetics brought cases against eBay in five European countries (France, Belgium, Germany, UK and Spain), accusing it of not taking enough measures to stop the sale of counterfeit goods on its website. The other cases are still pending.
eBay said in a statement to Managing IP: "This is the second successful court ruling in a row for eBay, both supporting our view that controlling prices and distribution reduces consumer choice. The litigation of counterfeits against eBay has been exposed as merely a stalking horse. eBay provides a vibrant and trusted marketplace that gives European consumers a good deal. We work to tackle the menace of counterfeit through action and co-operation with rights owners."
L'Oreal said that it was "extremely surprised" by the decision, which "minimises the role eBay plays in the sale of products through its platform". The company has decided to appeal the ruling.
This judgment comes a month after a US court said that eBay cannot be held liable by jewellery store Tiffany & Co for direct or contributory trade mark infringement, a ruling which contradicted two rulings by a French court. Tiffany has appealed the decision.
In June this year, the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Troyes in eastern France ruled that eBay was responsible for the sale of three counterfeit versions of Hermes bags and ordered the auction site to pay €20,000 in damages to the fashion house.
A month later, French court in Paris fined the online auction site nearly €40 million for allowing counterfeit LVMH goods to be sold on its website, which was seen as an encouraging sign for brand owners who would be more likely to target eBay following these positive rulings.
The French decisions were expected to affect the Belgian case, but the Belgian court instead agreed with the US court and the issue of counterfeit goods on online sites still divides opinion.
eBay maintains that it already has a system in place to protect IP rights of third parties, known as the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) programme, which allows IP owners to easily report listings that infringe their rights.
