EU Court Of Justice Rules On Liability Of Internet Marketplace Operator For Trade Mark Infringements By Internet Users (L'Oréal V. Ebay)

On 12 July 2011, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the "ECJ") gave judgment in a case involving the liability of an operator of an Internet marketplace on account of trade mark infringements committed by its users (Case C-324/09, L'Oréal and others v. eBay and others). The opinion of Advocate General Jääskinen was discussed in Van Bael & Bellis on Belgian Business Law, Volume 2010, No. 12, p. 10.

The case at hand pitted L'Oréal, a producer of cosmetic products, against eBay and a number of individuals selling goods on eBay before the UK High Court. L'Oréal claimed that goods were offered for sale on eBay that infringed its trade marks. In addition, L'Oréal maintained that eBay had directed consumers within the EU towards the infringing goods through the purchase of AdWords from Google comprising L'Oréal's trade marks. Moreover, L'Oréal alleged that eBay's efforts to prevent the sale of counterfeit goods on the eBay website were insufficient. The UK High Court decided to refer a number of questions to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling.

Jurisdiction

The ECJ noted that EU trade mark rules apply to offers for sale and advertisements of goods located outside the EU in so far as they are directed to EU consumers...