eBay Triumphs in Tiffany Counterfeiting Suit

A recent decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has found that eBay has no contributory liability for sales of counterfeit products on its site in light of its efforts to combat counterfeiting, including termination of sales after notification by the trademark owner. The Second Circuit, in Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay, Inc., 08-3947-cv, 2010 WL 1236315 (2d Cir. April 1, 2010) upheld the Southern District of New York's 2008 judgment that eBay's facilitating and profiting from third parties' sales of counterfeit goods does not constitute contributory infringement in the absence of "contemporary knowledge of which particular listings are infringing or will infringe in the future." In so holding, the Court rejected the concerns of Tiffany, and other parties that had filed amicus briefs, that trademark owners cannot afford the burden of policing eBay's Web site on their own.