A French court has ordered eBay to pay a 40m euro fine (£36.1m; $63m) to luxury goods group LVMH for allowing fake copies of its goods to be auctioned on the site.

The case was brought against eBay by six brands belonging to LVMH - Lois Vuitton Malletier, Christian Dior Couture, Dior perfume, Guerlain perfume, Kenzo perfume and Givenchy perfume. The company alleged that even legitimate auctions of their products were illegal due to only specialist dealers being permitted to sell them.

eBay will no longer be allowed to sell the four perfumes in the future. A spokesman for LVMH said that it "protected brands by considering them an important part of French heritage".

eBay have dedicated themselves to fighting back against this ruling, saying "Today’s ruling is about an attempt by LVMH to protect uncompetitive commercial practices at the expense of consumer choice and the livelihood of law-abiding sellers that eBay empowers everyday".

The case goes some way to protecting eBayers from the sale of counterfeits, but is it really justified that they should be barred from listing legitimate goods in an open market?



Posted: Jul 01, 2008 4:20 pm