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Paris, June 30:: A Paris court on Monday ordered Internet auctioneer eBay to pay 63 million dollars in damages to Louis Vuitton for selling fake luxury goods online.
The commercial court also barred eBay from selling four perfume brands - Christian Dior, Kenzo, Givenchy and Guerlain - in the ruling intended to send a strong message about copyright protection.
eBay, the world’s largest online auctioneer, immediately announced it was lodging an appeal and rejected the view that the court decision was a victory for copyright law.
“This decision s not based on combating counterfeit material. It is based on LVMH’s desire to protect its commercial practices and exclude competition,” said a spokeswoman for eBay in Paris.
“This is being done at the expense of the consumers and sellers to whom ebay is always offering opportunities,” she added.
eBay was ordered to pay 30.36 million dollars to LVMH and 27.24 million dollars to its sister company Christian Dior Couture for damage to their brand images and causing moral harm.
It must also pay 5.11 million dollars to the four perfume brands for sales in violation of its authorized network.
LVMH hailed the decision as a major coup against illegal sales on the Internet.
“It is a major first, because of the principals that it recognizes and the amount sought,” Pierre Gode, an aide to LVMH president Bernard Arnault, told AFP.
Describing eBay’s anti-counterfeit measures as “empty”, Gode said the court decision was “important for the creative industry” and that it “protected brands by considering them an important part of French heritage."
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