eBay and LVMH settle long running intellectual property dispute
Ebay and LVMH Moet Hennessy have settled an on-going legal dispute following a 2008 lawsuit that saw the luxury brand sue the e-commerce giant for selling counterfeit goods.
The two brands issued a joint statement with Michael Jacobson, senior vice-president and general counsel at eBay, and Pierre Godé, vice- president at LVMH, commenting: “Thanks to our joint efforts, consumers will enjoy a safer digital environment globally.”
Neither brand disclosed the financial details of the agreement.
LVMH, parent company for a host of luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Givenchy, sued eBay in 2008 after claiming that 90 per cent of designer items were fake, thus harming its business.
eBay was ordered to pay LVMH €38.5m in 2008, however a subsequent appeal court reduced the sum to €35.7million. A later ruling by a French court in 2012 said the lower court that initially dished out the ruling didn’t have the jurisdiction over ebay’s US site, but upheld it with regard to the e-commerce site’s French and UK domains.