IACC sends support brief in Tiffany vs. eBay

The IACC, the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, has filed a court submission backing jeweler Tiffany appeal in its lawsuit against eBay over the sale of counterfeited goods.

In its support brief it states that the law is clear: if a marketplace operator either actually knows, or should have known about widespread counterfeiting, it is obligated to take action both to prevent that illegal conduct and to stop providing services to those engaged in the violation.

The IACC highlights what it describes as the online auction website's "persistent failure" to meet obligations to prevent the sale of counterfeit Tiffany items on its site, claiming that the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit should hold eBay liable for this alleged failure.

According to the IACC submission, Tiffany sent eBay more than 250,000 notices about the "deluge of counterfeit merchandise" between 2003 and 2006.

Despite being aware of the continuing extraordinary ongoing volume of counterfeit Tiffany trade on its site, eBay continued to provide material assistance to direct infringers rather than implementing policies that could have reduced the volume of counterfeit items, the IACC brief says.

IACC president Robert Barchiesi said eBay was estimated to provide the forum for 29% of the whole online counterfeit market. "It is not acceptable that today eBay still tolerates blatant counterfeits being sold on its website. The lower court's ruling in Tiffany's suit against eBay, if left to stand, would result in consumers continuing to be victimized, and place an impossibly onerous burden on trademark owners to police the eBay site on their own. Our brief asks the Court to recognize both eBay's contributory and direct liability as well as the pressing need to take action to protect consumers." He added.

According to FBI, Interpol, World Customs Organization and International Chamber of Commerce estimates, roughly 7-8 percent of world trade every year is in counterfeit goods. United States "businesses and industries lose about $200 billion a year in revenue and 750,000 jobs due to the counterfeiting of merchandise"; worldwide, counterfeiting accounts for more than half a trillion dollars in global trade each year.

eBay has consistently opposed Tiffany's decision to appeal against the lower court's decision, arguing that the action will do nothing to prevent counterfeiting.