eBay 'may be liable' for sale of fake goods, court says

Intellectual property specialists said the verdict was a blow to eBay

Websites such as eBay may be liable for trademark infringements if they play an "active role" in promoting fake goods, the European Court of Justice has said.

The court's ruling came in response to a case brought by French cosmetics giant L'Oreal against eBay in the UK.

L'Oreal claims eBay is liable for sales on its website of counterfeit goods and "parallel imports" - L'Oreal products not intended for sale in the EU.

EBay said the court gave "some clarity" while others saw it as a "blow".

L'Oreal said it was "satisfied" with the ruling.

"This decision is in line with the position L'Oreal has taken for several years and is applicable in courts throughout the European Union," a company spokesman said.

Clarification

In May 2009, the High Court in the UK ruled that eBay was not jointly liable for the sale of any counterfeit L'Oreal products through its website, but said that the online marketplace could do more to stop trademark infringement.

The High Court asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to clarify the obligations of internet marketplaces under EU law.

In a statement, the ECJ said that it was for national courts to order online shopping sites to take measures to prevent trademark infringements.

But it also said that companies such as eBay were deemed to play an "active role" for instance by "optimising the presentation of the online offers for sale or promoting those offers".

"When the operator has played an 'active role' of that kind, it cannot rely on the exemption from liability which EU law confers, under certain conditions, on online service providers such as operators of internet marketplaces," the court said.

'Level playing field'

Stefan Krawczyk, senior director at eBay Europe, said: "The judgement provides some clarity on certain issues, and ensures that all brands can be traded online in Europe.

"As a marketplace, eBay provides a level playing field for all online sellers and will continue building constructive partnerships to expand the range of brands being sold on eBay."

Kirsten Gilbert, partner at Marks & Clerk Solicitors, which specialises in intellectual property, said the verdict was a blow to eBay.

"Brands have been concerned for years now that the internet has facilitated the trade of counterfeit goods," she said.

"Items which would otherwise be available only from back-street traders have become instantly available to consumers in the privacy of their own homes.

"L'Oreal and other brand owners will be hoping that online marketplaces like eBay now sit up and pay attention to the sales of counterfeit items which go through their sites."

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Judge orders Google and Facebook to remove fake sites

Chanel is involved in big crackdown on counterfeit goods

A US Judge has ordered Google, Yahoo, Twitter and Facebook, among others, to delist domain names linked to websites selling counterfeit goods.

It represents a significant step in the ongoing battle against the sale of fake items online.

The case was brought by luxury goods maker Chanel against 600 sites which it had identified as trading in counterfeits.

Many experts were surprised at the scope of the Nevada judge's ruling.

US firm GoDaddy, which manages around 45 million domain names, has been given control of the web addresses of the 600 firms. It has been told to ensure that none of the sites can be accessed.

Judge Dawson also ordered:

• Google, Bing, Yahoo, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter to remove the domain name from any search results pages.
• The defendants to stop using Chanel's name and images, and to stop selling any Chanel products.
• GoDaddy to link the web addresses involved to a site outlining the case.

Whack-a-mole

Chanel's counterfeit investigative team identified the websites by ordering goods from them which it then determined to be fakes.

Writing about the case in a blog, lawyer Venkat Balasubramani said: "Wow, I'm sympathetic to the "whack-a-mole" problem rights owner face, but this relief is just extraordinarily broad and is on shaky procedural grounds."

Others have questioned how much jurisdiction the court would have over domains that had been registered outside of the US.

"One of the problems is that the internet is a global phenomenon and you would need similar judgements in all jurisdictions," said Rachel Barber, assistant at law firm Wiggin.

She linked the case to the L'Oreal versus eBay judgement earlier this year.

In July the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that eBay and others should play a more active role in stopping their sellers from trading in counterfeit L'Oreal goods.

The court said that websites such as eBay might be liable for trademark infringements if they played an "active role" in promoting fake goods.

"It is acknowledged that third party intermediaries are best placed to tackle online infringement and that when intermediaries have knowledge of this based on good evidence that can't just sit on their hands," said Ms Barber.

Google said that it had no comment to make at this stage because it was yet to be served with the judgement. Facebook said was looking into the matter.

See our Fake Ugg Book Seizure, Largest In Europe!

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Fake Ugg boots seizure in Southampton 'Europe's biggest'

The fake Uggs had been destined for Manchester, the UK Border Agency said.

Thousands of pairs of fake Ugg boots have been confiscated at Southampton docks, thought to be the largest ever seizure of its kind in Europe.

More than 45,000 pairs of the boots were discovered by UK Border Agency officers inside six containers.

The agency estimated the boots would have sold for a total of just under £9m, had they made it into shops.

The containers originated from China and had been destined for Manchester, Border Force officer Phil Dunn said.

Southampton's trading standards officers are now warning Christmas shoppers to be careful about what they buy and where they buy it from.

Mr Dunn said: "Very quickly we realised, when we opened up the container, that there was lots of unmarked packaging which is slightly unusual and maybe an indicator that there was counterfeit goods in there.

"On examination we found what looked like Uggs, but closer examination showed the quality of them and no way in the world they could be deemed to be Ugg boots.

Private prosecution

"This was a very large scale attempt to smuggle counterfeit goods into the UK and [the] approximate retail value was just under £9m," he added.

Councillor Royston Smith, leader of the city council, said: "I'm delighted that these fake goods have been seized.

"It is vitally important for our honest traders that fake goods are seized and the culprits brought to justice.

"It also sends a message to people thinking they can get their illegal goods through Southampton, that they will likely get caught."

After the boots were seized, Border agency officers approached the rights holder for Ugg, Deckers Outdoor Corporation, to verify the products were fakes.

Deckers will now make a decision whether to bring a private prosecution against the importer, UKBA said.

No-one from the firm, based in Santa Barbara, California, USA, was available for comment.


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How to avoid on line websites selling counterfeit items this Christmas

It's getting to be a Cyber Monday tradition: as the biggest online-shopping day of the year approaches, the U.S. government seizes Web domains it suspects are selling counterfeit products. CNET's Edward Moyer explains in a post that this year's takedown netted more than 130 such sites.

That's nearly double the number of domains seized by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security on the eve of 2010's Cyber Monday. Still, determining just how prevalent counterfeit product sales are online is not easy.

A study by brand-protection company MarkMonitor estimates that businesses will lose $135 billion in 2011 because of fake merchandise sold online, as Katie Deatsch reported last January on Internet Retailer. I was unable to find the original report quoting that figure on the MarkMonitorsite.

MarkMonitor's claim has been challenged in this Mike Masnick post on TechDirt, as were other "statistics" quoted by U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials based on the MarkMonitor survey, which the Chamber of Commerce funded.

Everyday items receive the counterfeit treatment
A more reliable estimate of the economic impact of counterfeit products may be a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which claims nearly 2 percent of all products traded internationally in 2007 were counterfeit or pirated. This figure represents up to $250 billion in lost sales, and it doesn't include bogus goods produced and sold domestically, or "nontangible pirated digital products," which I assume include unauthorized computer games and music and video recordings.

A recent report by anticounterfeiting service OpSec Security found that fake products are commonly offered on business-to-business sites such as Alibaba, DHgate, Trade Key, and Made-in-China. OpSec claims a large percentage of the brand-name watches, toys, and home electronics sold on such sites are phony.

While Coach bags and other luxury items have long been a popular target of the counterfeiters, even such mundane products as extension cords, toothpaste, batteries, and maple syrup are being faked, as Kelli B. Grant explains in this SmartMoney post.

Sites offer tools and resources for spotting and reporting fake products
The key to avoiding phony goods is to remember the adage, "If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is." To verify that a product offered on a Web site is legitimate, begin by checking the manufacturer's Web site for reports of counterfeit versions being offered for sale. Also verify the model number of the product and all components that ship with it, such as USB cables, operating instructions, and warranty cards.

For practice in spotting the telltale signs of a fake product, visit the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition's Counterfeit Gallery, which displays images of various products and asks you to decide whether they're bogus or the real deal.

The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition site lets you test your ability to distinguish legitimate products from their fake counterparts.

(Credit: Screenshot by Dennis O'Reilly)

The packaging of many counterfeit goods will include labels from certifying organizations such as Underwriters Laboratory (UL) and CSA International, although the copied insignia may be a slightly different color or design. Visit CSA International's Certification Marks page or the UL Marks page to compare the label's certification with the genuine article.

CSA International also provides a searchable Certified Products Listing and a database ofProduct Alerts & Recalls. Similarly, the UL site features information on the organization's authorized label suppliers.

The CSA site offers a Product Incident Report form you can use to notify the agency of a problem with a CSA-certified product. The equivalent for reporting glitches with UL-labeled products is the Market Surveillance Product Incident Report Form on the UL site.

An eBay seller's tips for avoiding counterfeit purveyors
The eBay auction site has a reputation for being a hotbed of phony merchandise. Not being an online-auction denizen, I defer to the advice offered by eBay seller Chrisid2303 for spotting illegitimate sellers who frequent the site (and others). Among her tips are to watch for sellers' claims of offering products from an "OEM factory," and not to trust Power Seller ratings.

eBay's own "Replicas, counterfeit items, and unauthorized copies" page includes a link for reporting listings that offer counterfeits or replicas.

In this Daily Mail post, Laura Moss takes an in-depth look at the prevalence of fake products on eBay. Moss concludes that the best way to make sure the product you're buying is legitimate is to make your purchase on the vendor's own site, or on one the manufacturer lists as an authorized reseller.

As that other adage states so wisely, "You get what you pay for." Let's hope so, anyway.

via cnet

Kingdom, China agree to curb import of counterfeit goods

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and China have agreed to prepare a blacklist of exporters and importers of counterfeit goods from China, according to a senior official of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The move was aimed at regulating the number of cheap quality Chinese products flooding the Saudi market, said Abdul Rahman Al-Abdul Razaq, undersecretary for consumer affairs at the ministry.

Speaking to Al-Eqtisadiah business daily, he said the new agreement would be implemented based on a previous agreement signed between Beijing and the European Union under which all counterfeit Chinese products would be banned in EU states and stringent punitive measures taken against those involved in their trade.

Al-Abdul Razaq disclosed such an agreement had been reached during his recent meeting with an official Chinese delegation led by the chief of China’s quality control body.

“I briefed the Chinese delegation on the negative impact of counterfeit products imported to the Saudi market on the reputation of Chinese brand products. Subsequently, the Chinese officials expressed their willingness to formally sign an agreement with the Kingdom based on the one they had already signed with the EU,” he said.

According to Al-Abdul Razaq, the meeting discussed various topics such as ensuring the quality of Chinese products exported to the Kingdom and taking punitive action against exporters involved in selling duplicate and cheap products, especially electrical appliances, dresses and toys.

He said a blacklist of Saudi businessmen involved in importing duplicate and cheap products from China would be prepared soon.

“In the light of this, we will ban these businessmen from importing from China. The Chinese authorities will also follow suit by preparing a blacklist of exporters of such products to the Saudi market and enforce a subsequent ban on their exports,” he said.

Citing major provisions of the agreement, Al-Abdul Razaq said all products meant for export to the Kingdom would be tested at the laboratories of some 35 quality control offices spread over 31 Chinese provinces.

“If any one of these products are found to be counterfeit, they will be banned from being exported to the Kingdom and the concerned exporters as well as factories manufacturing them will be blacklisted,” he said.

While China has become a country that has begun to manufacture nearly everything, or components of most goods, it is still being tagged as a country that only produces low quality goods on a regular basis.

The Chinese government has started taking a series of measures to remedy this.

Al-Abdul Razaq said the Chinese government had issued strict directives to local companies tasked with granting “Made in China” logos to various products to ensure the quality of products as well as monitor their manufacturing at factories and sale to importing countries.

“The Chinese delegation also expressed desire that the Saudi authorities would also take similar stringent measures to crack down on such cheap products and return them directly from various entry points to the Kingdom in addition to withdrawing such products that have already reached the local market,” he said.

He added that the ministry would intensify monitoring to prevent such products from entering the Kingdom. He also said huge quantities of duplicate products have been seized from various entry points in the Kingdom over the past few years and returned to exporters after initiating punitive measures against those involved in their trade.

Shoppers warned about dodgy counterfeit goods that could kill

iPhone 4s

BEWARE of cheap, counterfeit consoles and other electrical goods flooding in from the Far East – they could kill.

Consumer group Which? issued the warning after investigating fake items on the market.

They found dodgy wiring on bogus Nintendo Wiis could electrocute a child, while fake iPhones, laptops and Nintendo DSi handhelds were at risk of overheating.

Worryingly, sellers are even using reputable websites like Amazon and eBay to offload duff must-have gadgets and designer items.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd warned: “Don’t be tempted to buy fake goods this Christmas. Some of the products we tested weren’t just poor quality, they were dangerous.”

Trading Standards Institute chief exec Ron Gainsford added: “Toys, jewellery, alcohol and cigarettes might look the part, too, but could be toxic.”

Yesterday, Amazon and eBay said they were working closely with big brands and trading standards to stamp out fakes on their sites, and would ban anyone found selling them.

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Counterfeit warning as Christmas nears

A counterfeit golf club bought on an overseas online store and reported to the Counterfeit Alert Network.

Dodgy online dealers are taking advantage of the Christmas silly season to dupe consumers into buying fake sporting

goods online.

The Australian Sporting Goods Association (ASGA) says that it has received increased reports of consumers being ripped off by dodgy online dealers selling counterfeit products.

The ASGA, which runs the Counterfeit Alert Network, an online watchdog for fake sporting product, says that the number of reports to the site have increased in the last month, coinciding with the Christmas countdown."Consumers should only buy products from reputable online sites or they risk being sold fakes and may have trouble getting their money back," said ASGA executive director Brad Ktischke.“In the last month reports to the Counterfeit Alert Network have increased 10-fold and most relate to purchases made online. We recognise that consumers are time poor and want to get the best bargain possible, but we encourage them to shop with reputable online stores and brands so they can be certain they are getting authentic product.“We don’t want someone’s Christmas to be ruined when their new golf club cracks half way through its first round of golf and they can’t get their money back from an overseas website.

”The ASGA is encouraging anyone who thinks they have been ripped off and sold fake products to report it online. The information is then passed onto the trademark owner. ASGA says that those who manufacture and sell fakes need to be aware that brand owners are taking this seriously and will pursue them through every legal means possible.The ASGA has been taking its fight against the importation and sale of counterfeit to the Commonwealth Government, seeking tougher laws and a change to enforcement procedures. It has written an issues paper and proposal for reform, downloadable here. 

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Couple facing jail after selling counterfeit children's shoes on Ebay

A couple who made an estimated £300,000 selling counterfeit children’s shoes over the internet are facing jail.

Police swooped on the home of Antoine Simhani and Fan Fanny Cheung last January and found 10,000 pairs of shoes with fake labels.

Antoine Simhani and Fan Fanny Cheung are
believed to have made £300,000 in online sales

Trademarks included Disney’s Cars and popular girls’ shoes from Lelli Kelly, which were stashed in plastic boxes in a garage and then sold on eBay for between £20 and £40.

Simhani, 46, and Cheung, 43, of Hook Rise South, Tolworth, admitted six counts of possessing counterfeit shoes on the morning of their trial at Kingston Crown Court on November 30.

Judge Georgina Kent said: “What was being alleged was that the defendants had been involved in selling counterfeit goods, Lelli Kelly children’s shoes or Disney’s Cars.

"Those of you who have been forced, like I have, to sit through cartoon programmes, may have been aware of [them].

"Until now it has not been accepted by the defendants.

"They have had time to consider their positions and they have now pleaded guilty."

Lelli Kelly shoes were sold for between £20 and £40

The pair are believed to have travelled to markets in China to find the counterfeit shoes and import them to the UK.

Judge Kent told the couple they would be sentenced after being assessed by the probation service: "I have to make it clear it is on an all options basis. That includes custody."

Another six counts of transferring their criminal proceeds between bank accounts and online trading account Paypal, totalling £376,189 were left to lie on file, although some of the transfers may relate to the same money.

A raid of their Tolworth home found thousands of
Lelli Kelly shoes stuffed in plastic boxes

A total of £196,000 in criminal proceeds was laundered from Paypal to their joint Halifax account between August 2008 and January 2010.

A hearing next year will try to calculate the true amount they made before clawing it back.

The pair will be sentenced on December 22.

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