eBay Fined for Allowing Fraudulent Sales

Paris

A French court ruled against eBay on Monday, ordering the online auction site to pay luxury-brands manufacturers more than $63 million for allowing fake and unauthorized merchandise to be sold through its Web site.

Louis Vuitton had brought the suit claiming that eBay had not taken the appropriate steps to ensure merchandise sold through its auctions were legitimate and not counterfeit.

In addition to ruling in favor of the manufacturer on this matter, the judge also sided with the manufacturer relative to the unauthorized sales of luxury-branded perfumes. Although the perfumes sold were authentic, Louis Vuitton limits distribution to its authorized retailers.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the judge also ordered eBay to immediately stop selling the perfumes and to publish the ruling on its Web site in both English and French.