Tiffany Strikes Back in the Lawsuit Against eBay

Back in 2004, lawyers for Tiffany filed a lawsuit against eBay, claiming that the Internet marketplace knowingly permitted the sale of counterfeited products claiming to be Tiffany originals. One month ago, we reported that eBay had won the case against the jewelry giant. However, people expected that Tiffany would fight back on the first occasion.

Indeed, yesterday, the company announced that it was appealing the decision of the Southern District of New York's Court judge, who held the jewelry company itself accountable for not fighting against the forgery of its own products.

"Unfortunately, the trial court incorrectly held that trademark holders and not eBay are responsible for policing the eBay site. The effect of this is that eBay can continue to profit at the expense of consumers and trademark holders," said Patrick Dorsey, general counsel, Tiffany & Co. "In our view, this approach makes no sense as a matter of law or policy. Once eBay has reason to know that a specific brand like TIFFANY & CO. is being widely counterfeited and sold, eBay should be compelled to investigate and take action to protect its customers and stop the illegal conduct." he explained.

James B. Swire, a Tiffany partner at the law firm of Arnold & Porter LLP, underscored the general opinion inside the company, which holds that preventing piracy is an obligation of the website that hosts it. "Trademark law does not impose a duty on Tiffany to police eBay's site: eBay designed the site and has the responsibility to police it."

The legal action taken against eBay was based on the fact that, during a random verification of the silver pieces of jewelry that were offered for sale in 2004, 73% of them proved to be forgeries. By appealing the decision issued by the judge, Tiffany hopes to remove from eBay the presumably counterfeited products and to stop all auctions for them.