L'Oreal Looks For Friendlier Locales In Its Suits Against eBay

from the you-can-even-shop-for-jurisdictions-easily-online dept

US courts have generally recognized that eBay isn't liable for the actions of people who use its site to sell counterfeit goods, though a recent decision went the other way. This situation reflects the lack of uniformity around the world in this type of case: for instance, eBay was found liable in France, but was not in Belgium. In the Belgian case, eBay was sued by cosmetics maker L'Oreal, but the company hasn't let the ruling slow it down, as it's now filed a similar suit in the UK. It's also sued eBay in France, Germany and Spain -- which could lead one to believe that it's jurisdiction shopping, simply filing suits in many different countries and seeing what sticks, with the hopes that victory in one place will force eBay to play ball worldwide. The issue of eBay's lack of liability as a platform provider remains an important one, but the problem of international jurisdiction shopping remains a massive one for companies online.
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Filed Under: auctions, jurisdiction shopping, resale, trademark
Companies: ebay, l'oreal


Reader Comments

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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Mar 2009 @ 6:32pm

    What do they make?
    I remember ads back in the day ...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Jesse, 10 Mar 2009 @ 7:36pm

    All I remember is l'oreal for kids. That's the shampoo I use.

    Doesn't that mean they only have to play ball with ebay.fr?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Mar 2009 @ 7:37pm

    they make lawsuits. Didn't you read the article?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 10 Mar 2009 @ 7:50pm

    Re:

    What do they make?

    No joke. It's some kind of feminine thing or other (panyhose? makeup? I'm blanking here.) Regardless, eBay doesn't seem to be their worst problem.

    Oh well, at least the EU is getting a taste of jurisdiction-shopping. Maybe if they do something about it, our courts will look above the crowd, pick out their friends, and find the stones to do something themselves.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    EBAYISGREEDYEVIL, 10 Mar 2009 @ 11:34pm

    WHEN WILL PEOPLE WISE UP GRRED BAY IS EVIL

    Oh, I get it. Ebay is the innocent one. They are nothing but a bunch of greed mongers. Ebay started with pre-owed items, but then figured it would let people go what they want, then say, "Oh, we are just a venue for selling." Talk about ebay acting stupid and playing Oh, I am so naive! Get real ebay. You made your money and lots of it. Even the CEO Donoho made over 8 million in 2008. He's laughing all the way to the bank and so is Pierre & Meg. I wish ebay would just crash. All companies have "the right" to sue filth bay for their greediness.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Mr_Storm, 11 Mar 2009 @ 12:51am

    Re: WHEN WILL PEOPLE WISE UP GRRED BAY IS EVIL

    ROFL nice troll attempt... jealous much? What's the matter, did you get outbid and are now throwing a tantrum?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Igorus, 25 May 2009 @ 5:41pm

    Just ignore eBay and use shopping search engines ;)

    link to this | view in thread ]


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