A U.S. court has said that eBay cannot be held liable by jewelry store Tiffany & Co for direct or contributory trade mark infringement, a ruling which contradicts a French court’s recent holding in a similar dispute.

Tiffany filed a complaint against eBay in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2004 alleging that the company failed to stop the sale of fake Tiffany products on its online auction site.
In addition to trade mark infringement, the complaint also alleged unfair competition, false advertising and direct and contributory trade mark dilution.
Tiffany specifically claimed that eBay failed to control the illegal activities of counterfeit sellers despite having been notified that a problem existed and that it was therefore guilty of contributory trade mark infringement, which could have had far-reaching implications for eBay's business model.
But ruling last Monday Judge Richard Sullivan said: "Tiffany must ultimately bear the burden of protecting its trademark. Policymakers may yet decide that the law as it stands is inadequate to protect rights

Article Directory: http://www.articlecube.com

www.fashion-accouterment.com