U.S. appeals justice manners for eBay in Tiffany squabble

Grant McCool and Alexandria Sage NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO Thu April 1, 2010 7:25pm EDT Related News CORRECTED - UPDATE 2-US justice manners for eBay in Tiffany heading tiffThu, April 1 2010Kijiji begone: EBay rebranding U.S. personal siteTue, March thirty 2010Philadelphia publisher"s lenders interest bid rulingTue, March thirty 2010Galleon owner wins stay of wiretaps in polite caseWed, March twenty-four 2010U.S. decider manners opposite Citi in Terra fit over EMIWed, March twenty-four 2010

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - EBay Inc did not rivet in heading transgression and dilution by offered tawdry Tiffany Co products on the website, a U.S. appeals justice ruled on Thursday, but it systematic serve examination of the jeweler"s explain of feign advertising.

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Tiffany and alternative oppulance brands have prolonged argued that tawdry sell temperament their names is sole on eBay. The Web custom company, that does not itself put the products up for sale, says it has outlayed millions of dollars to lane down counterfeiters and remove such listings.

The box was seen as a vital plea in the United States to the leisure of Web companies from eBay to Google Inc, that explain that they are merely hosting services, and any heading transgression lies with others, not them. Google won a vital heading feat in the European Union over identical claims last month.

Tiffany pronounced it would cruise an interest to the U.S. Supreme Court and that the preference "leaves in place a prior to statute that allows eBay to distinction from tawdry sales."

The justice signaled that eBay met the responsibilities in the partnership with code holders, pronounced Sally Abel, an profession who chairs Fenwick West"s heading organisation and was not a celebration in the case.

"It"s a win for e-commerce," pronounced Abel, adding that the statute helps interpretation "the need for the online marketplace to have manners and to strengthen heading rights up to a point -- but usually up to that point."

A row of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York listened verbal arguments in the brawl last year over Tiffany"s claims, that antiquated behind to 2004.

"It is loyal that eBay did not itself sell tawdry Tiffany goods; usually the feign vendors did, and that is in piece since we interpretation that eBay did not transgress Tiffany"s mark," the appeals justice perspective said. "But eBay did affirmatively publicize the products sole by the site as Tiffany merchandise."

Tiffany indicted eBay of feign promotion since the website touted Tiffany goods, but most of them were essentially counterfeit. The appeals justice disagreed with the anticipating of the district justice that eBay"s ads were not expected to upset consumers.

"The law requires us to hold eBay under obligation for the difference that it chose insofar as they misled or confused consumers," review the appeals justice ruling.

EBay pronounced in a matter that the statute certified the anti-counterfeiting measures and that it was assured that it would kick the feign promotion claim. It criticized the make use of of courts to solve these issues, observant "we go on to await cooperation, rather than litigation."

BATTLING FRAUD

The perspective was published some-more than dual years after a week-long dais hearing prior to U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in late 2007. He ruled in Jul 2008 that eBay was not probable for heading transgression by permitting feign Tiffany products to be sole on the website by individuals. Tiffany afterwards appealed to the higher court.

The appeals justice statute remarkable that eBay and others have "a clever inducement to minimize the tawdry products sole on their websites." Tiffany argued that if eBay were not hold probable solely when infringing equipment are brought to the attention, it will have no inducement to stop the sale of counterfeits.

In the arguments to the court, eBay pronounced it outlayed as most as $20 million per year to conflict rascal on the website, together with customer insurance programs and employees who concentration to one side on anti-infringement issues.

Tiffany shares sealed up 1.6 percent to $48.25 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday afternoon. EBay fell 1.47 percent to $26.57 on Nasdaq.

The box is Tiffany Co v eBay Inc, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York, No. 08-3947.

(Reporting by Grant McCool and Alexandria Sage; Additional stating by Phil Wahba; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn; Gerald E. McCormick and Carol Bishopric)

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