Court rules in favor of eBay in Tiffany suit

In 2004, luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. sued online auction site eBay over trademark infringement and dilution, accusing eBay of helping in the sale of counterfeit goods via the auction site.

eBay, in its defense, says they do not put any of the goods up for sale themselves, and spend millions each year to track down counterfeiters and remove any such listings.

This week a U.S. appeals court has ruled in favor of eBay, on all accounts.

"It is true that eBay did not itself sell counterfeit Tiffany goods; only the fraudulent vendors did, and that is in part why we conclude that eBay did not infringe Tiffany's mark,"reads the ruling. "But eBay did affirmatively advertise the goods sold through its site as Tiffany merchandise."

Tiffany says it is considering an appeal.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 2 Apr 2010 22:46

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7 comments

av_verbal

This has nothing to do with counterfeit goods, its purely about global price fixing by controlling the distribution so they can keep the prices artificially high, this sort of behaviour by corporations should come under monopolistic behaviour and be considered anti competitive.

levi's did it with their jeans in the UK, sony did it with the PSP's and in this country the companies win time and again.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...can-prices.html

Originally posted by telegraph: BRITISH supermarkets were banned by the European Court of Justice yesterday from selling a wide range of designer goods at greatly reduced prices. levis argued that the higher prices made their product by desirable because of exclusivity, like wtf sort of argument is that?

where as sony stooped to even new lows for them by citing personal safety as the reason to block psp imports, not because Lik-Sang could import psp's for �80 to your door. they were shut down before the release of the ps3 as lik sang were going to sell ps3's to UK customers for �250 delivered

http://www.lik-sang.com/

Originally posted by sony: Lik-Sang.com Out of Business due to Multiple Sony Lawsuits
"ultimately, we're trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera; is not - in PS3's case - backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software; will not play European Blu-Ray movies or DVDs; and will not be covered by warranty". in the UK high streets, designer brands such as Miss Sixty, Diesel, Firetrap are only allowed to be sold by a limited amount of shops on a distance basis, to block competition and keep prices artificially high.

Capitalism at work im afraid.

3.4.2010 06:30 #1

Oner

So hold up let me get this straight ~ you are complaining about companies setting the prices on their OWN products that they develop, invest, manufacture and provide for sale? Ooookaaaay....I take it you are not a business owner, huh?

I mean it's funny though, because I do understand your point, example ~ I currently live in FL and yet Tropicana OJ is DAMNED expensive! WTH is that about!?!?! But you know what I do? Simply find a good equivalent/replacement that is a better price. And don't buy/support the one I don't like or agree with. Easy. Done.

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3.4.2010 18:37 #2

PhilipCohen

�Tiffany & Co and eBay Continue to Battle Over Infringement�
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets...e-infringement/

�EBay argued to the court that it has spent as much as $20 million annually to rid the site of fraud, including buyer protection programs and employees whose sole job is to monitor infringement issues.�

And is not that the nub of the problem? eBay is spending (only) $20 million annually to rid the site of �fraud, including buyer protection programs and employees whose sole job is to monitor infringement issues�.

On his way to virtually bringing the eBay marketplace to its knees, one person�the eBafia Don himself�was effectively taking home $20 million annually, and still we can�t get rid of him either �

For those with a longer attention span, an evening�s entertainment of details and facts on eBay�s deliberate facilitating of wire fraud on its consumers world wide and a list of links to a number of PayPal horror stories is contained in my post at:
http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=6502877

eBay/PayPal: Dead Men Walking

4.4.2010 00:50 #3

av_verbal

Originally posted by oner: So hold up let me get this straight ~ you are complaining about companies setting the prices on their OWN products that they develop, invest, manufacture and provide for sale? Ooookaaaay....I take it you are not a business owner, huh?

I mean it's funny though, because I do understand your point, example ~ I currently live in FL and yet Tropicana OJ is DAMNED expensive! WTH is that about!?!?! But you know what I do? Simply find a good equivalent/replacement that is a better price. And don't buy/support the one I don't like or agree with. Easy. Done. no im complaining that companies are engaged in global price fixing and using pitiful excuses to stop us from importing goods at far cheaper prices than they set for mostly every other region except for the likes of the UK where we are ripped off and block by constant legal battles by the corporations to allow them to artificially inflate prices here.

when a company states, as levis did, that the price of a product has such a high premium to make it more desirable and exclusive and says that if we import the exact same product from the USA at a third of the cost we are pirates infringing on their trademark & the law supports this price fixing and anti-competitive behaviour, there is something up with this worlds law makers.

4.4.2010 05:29 #4

Oner

Originally posted by av_verbal: Originally posted by oner: So hold up let me get this straight ~ you are complaining about companies setting the prices on their OWN products that they develop, invest, manufacture and provide for sale? Ooookaaaay....I take it you are not a business owner, huh?

I mean it's funny though, because I do understand your point, example ~ I currently live in FL and yet Tropicana OJ is DAMNED expensive! WTH is that about!?!?! But you know what I do? Simply find a good equivalent/replacement that is a better price. And don't buy/support the one I don't like or agree with. Easy. Done. no im complaining that companies are engaged in global price fixing and using pitiful excuses to stop us from importing goods at far cheaper prices than they set for mostly every other region except for the likes of the UK where we are ripped off and block by constant legal battles by the corporations to allow them to artificially inflate prices here.

when a company states, as levis did, that the price of a product has such a high premium to make it more desirable and exclusive and says that if we import the exact same product from the USA at a third of the cost we are pirates infringing on their trademark & the law supports this price fixing and anti-competitive behaviour, there is something up with this worlds law makers. I understand your point but I still revert to it's the company's idea, property, part or product for them to set what they feel they want. It is theirs to sell, isn't it? That's the point. I mean would you complain or say the same thing about someone who codes a piece of simple software for sale at an exorbitant price?

Think about it, they made it so they have the right to set the price they want or feel what it's worth to them. Just because it's in a different market does not mean it should be the same price because each market has different economic value/status and a company HAS to protect/profit from what they make. No?

So as I said earlier you can choose not to support or buy said item or the only other choices are to pirate or import. No different from what gamers have been doing for years to play/use the things they really desire. Even if at a premium (for importing originals etc.) but on the flip side pirating saves the person money so where is the complaint in that? (for the consumer not the company).

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4.4.2010 12:40 #5

bmlshane

I find it is the name you are buying, I recently checked on a pair of brand name jeans, read the label, had a good look at the material, and the sewing, and bought another pair of no-name jeans. Why? The brand name was made in China, so I bought a similar pair, similar material, similar weight, similar stitching, 1/3 price. Check your brand name labels for country of origin, they may by-pass it by making it very hard to find. Also OJ, made from local and imported concentrate. You will be surprised when the labels reveal these things.

warlock

4.4.2010 23:02 #6

slickwill

As longs as the consumers who bought the counterfeit goods (at a non ridiculous price) are satisfied, and all their friends think their friend is popular for sporting a brand named good, isn't all that matters....LOL. That's the reason why most people buy brand goods, because they are overpriced and make them look popular, it is not always the quality that matters to the naive consumer.

4.4.2010 23:51 #7

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