Tiffany and eBay in Fight Over Fakes

gbguyuk

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 26 — For years, eBay has defined itself simply as an online marketplace that links buyers and sellers.

But in a weeklong bench trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan that ended last Tuesday, lawyers for Tiffany & Company argued that the online auction house was far more than that: it is a distribution network that enables the trading of counterfeit Tiffany items.
If Tiffany wins its case, not only could other lawsuits follow, but eBay’s business model could be threatened because it would be difficult and extremely expensive for the company, based in San Jose, Calif., to police a site that now has 248 million registered users worldwide and approximately 102 million items for sale at any one time.
Tiffany has requested injunctive relief that would require eBay to alter its procedures to eliminate counterfeit silver Tiffany merchandise from its auctions. Judge Richard Sullivan instructed both sides to file post-trial briefs by Dec. 7.

full story here

This story just appeared on my blogs news feed, Sorry if this has already been posted just thought it made interesting reading.

TKPeters

A £60,000 Civil Recovery Order has been launched against Chinese nationals Miao Cui and Xi Lin, by the Government’s Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) who sold fake Tiffany jewellery and designer handbags on eBay.

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2007/11/30/60k-bill-for-fake-jewellery-84229-20183747/

I wonder if the British Government can freeze Chinese Bank Accounts, as it looks like they've gone home.

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