Talking to Simi Belo inventor of the Simi Weave last year, I wasn't surprised to hear she was preventing her distributors sell her hair extension products on eBay.

It's common knowledge that the online marketplaces are a hotbed for fakes and copies. So what are your rights if you find your new product ideas being copied and sold on eBay or Amazon marketplace?

The article below, reproduced by kind permission of Briffa lawyers, outlines current action being taken against eBay in the UK courts. Whilst big brand names are involved, it does show that eBay and Amazon have some obligation to take action if you make a complaint that fakes are being sold under your product name.

It's also clear that the online marketplaces are under pressure to clean up their act. Which can only be a good thing for anyone trying to sell quality products online.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This month the UK High Court became the latest battleground as the cosmetics giant, L'Oreal, continued to pile pressure on eBay. The French company has now issued court proceedings in five European countries in an attempt to prevent the sale of fake Lancome and Yves Saint Laurent products on the eBay website. L'Oreal have so far failed in France and Belgium but succeeded in Germany, while they are still waiting on a decision in Spain. This week our own High Court held that while eBay are not liable for the infringements they could and should do more.

The judge referred to seven eBay sellers offering fake L'Oreal products in the UK and said in these instances eBay could not be held responsible for the actions of the infringers. However the judge did propose some measures which could be adopted to reduce the number of infringements including filtering the goods that are sold on the website and requiring sellers to disclose their full name and address in all listings.

The French courts were not so generous last year when they ordered eBay to pay €30 million to French luxury goods company LVMH. Meanwhile eBay has also been in negotiations with other major players with the aim of reaching an agreement over how to prevent sales of counterfeit goods on its website.

eBay, which has 233 million members, claims that it cannot be expected to police a website which operates in 37 different markets. It therefore provides the VeRO procedure whereby businesses can notify it of infringements sold on its website. eBay will then take action against infringers by freezing accounts and providing whichever contact details are available to the rights holders so that they can pursue the infringers themselves. However brand owners like L'Oreal and LVMH have argued that eBay have very little incentive to assist rights holders since it makes huge profits from sales of infringing goods taking commission on each sale.

eBay is in a very difficult position. Due to the sheer volume of goods being sold on the website each day in so many jurisdictions it is proving almost impossible to police the site. Nevertheless eBay is making a significant profit out of sales of infringing goods. In light of the UK decision and the continued pressure from major brands, it may be in eBay's interest to provide greater assistance to rights holders. In particular, as Justice Richard Arnold stated, at the very least eBay should be getting the full contact details for sellers on the site. In the event that rights holders do wish to pursue infringers it is crucial that they are able to identify whether it is a company or a sole trade and have access to their full contact details. This is the minimum information which sellers should provide when setting up accounts although eBay may argue that there are data protection issues.

The VeRo procedure is not ideal but used properly businesses can prevent infringers selling on eBay. Once eBay are informed about the infringements they are obliged to act immediately to remove the items. It is important that all businesses are aware of the potential for infringers to exploit eBay and for rights holders to enforce their rights under the VeRO procedure. The same applies to Amazon who offers a similar service.

Lawyers at Briffa have experience of fighting infringers on eBay and Amazon and using the relevant procedures to our client's advantage. For more information contact info@briffa.com

,