eBay To Pay $61,3 Million To Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton

And they did it! They sentenced eBay to a total $61,3 million to the luxury mutant Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

And not only that! They’re also ordered to stop selling Christian Dior Parfums, Kenzo Parfums, Guerlain and Givenchy Parfums or they’ll pay $79,000/day. To the users’ great satisfaction, eBay will continue to sell the brands and will appeal the decision: “In reality, it’s a matter of a wish by LVMH to protect its commercial practices excluding all competition.”

The next in line is Tiffany & Co against eBay in Manhattan, for the same trademark infringement. I wonder if they think about how dangerous this precedent can be for the internet-based commerce! Not to mention that early on, in France toujours, LVMH won against Google in a case where Google was accused of promoting Web sites selling counterfeit LVMH goods. Will France become the base-camp of the counterfeit-war?
(via wwd, law.com)