New York, February 12: eBay Inc must stop using internet search terms that Louis Vuitton Malletier protested and pay the luxury goods maker $316 500 for damages and legal costs.
A Paris District Court found the online auction house liable on Thursday for harming the reputation of Louis Vuitton and ordered it to stop using keywords it had bought that were similar to the famed brand’s name.
A Louis Vuitton spokesperson said eBay had bought up common misspellings of the brand so online shoppers who typed them into search engines would be directed to links promoting eBay.
eBay said in a statement that the ruling “flies in the face” of a ruling over another brand in a similar case in Belgium.
—Agencies