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e-Commerce and brand protection: A two-way street
Are eBay and other e-commerce firms that allow third parties to conduct business transactions on their sites responsible for policing brand infringement? Or is it up to the brands themselves to alert the hosting organisation to suspected infringement? Two recent cases illustrate that it largely depends on where the e-commerce is being conducted.
That all depends on where the electronic commerce is being conducted, based on recently issued, conflicting court opinions from the United States and France.
On 14 July, the United States District Court Southern District of New York concluded that trademark owners, not e-commerce sites like eBay, carry the burden of ensuring that their intellectual property rights are not being violated.
But just two weeks prior to the US ruling, the Paris Commercial Court issued three decisions that slammed eBay, accusing the Internet auction Goliath of gross misconduct and negligence for failing to take steps to prevent the sale of counterfeit goods on its site.
Separately, the courts also clashed over the legality of eBay selling legitimate trademarked goods when the brand owners have not authorised those sales.
About Luis Alcalde
Luis Alcalde is President of the PICA Corporation.
