The cosmetics giant claims that eBay is profiting from the sale
of counterfeit goods and is not doing enough to combat fakes. EBay
has argued in the past that it always acts in such cases when
notified of the sale of counterfeits.
"EBay is not a victim because it gets a cut from each
transaction and advertisement, real or fake," said L'Oreal's head
of anti-counterfeiting, Xavier Herfroy, according to French
newspaper Liberation. The paper said that L'Oreal had estimated the
cost of the sale of counterfeit goods to it as being millions of
euros.
A spokeswoman for eBay France said that the two companies had
been in negotiations since May of this year about the issue but
that the companies could not agree and that L'Oreal's demands were
unreasonable, according to news agency Associated Press.
Action has been taken in France, the UK, Germany, Spain and
Belgium over cosmetics which are sold under brands such as Lancôme,
Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren.
The issue of fake goods on sale on eBay is not a new one. Luxury
goods group Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy and iconic jeweller
Tiffany's have both taken action against the online auction site
over similar claims.
The online auction of fake goods mirrors an explosion in their
sale off-line as well. The French government this week seized
almost 13,000 handbags and leather goods which were copies of
luxury items that it said were worth €12 million. It said that
French customs officers had seized €224 million worth of fake
products in the first half of this year.
French businesses and employees have been particularly active in
protecting trade marks and battling fake goods. Industrial lobby
group the Union of Manufacturers in France filed a lawsuit last
year against eBay seeking compensation for its members because of
the availability of fakes on eBay.
"We think eBay is perfectly capable of policing its site, but
they offer to take action only after the fact. They refuse to act
pre-emptively," Unifab chairman Marc Antoine Jamet told Reuters
last year. "We think they have the IT to manage their sites, to
track bank accounts and ownership."
