For the fourth time in two years, eBay has lost a French court decision to luxury fashion goods maker LVMH in a trademark case.

In the latest bout, the Paris District Court has ordered eBay to pay LVMH €200,000 in damages and €30,000 in legal fees for using the fashion brands trademarks as search engine keywords.

The court also said eBay will be liable to pay €1,000 for any further keyword breaches which "harmed the reputation of the LVMH brand".

The ruling goes against an ECJ interim opinion of 2009 on Google which found companies could register competitors' trademarks as search engine keywords.

In the case against eBay, LVMH charged the internet auctioneer with buying keywords which were misspelt versions of some of its most lucrative brands. When these misspelt words were entered into Yahoo or Google, LVMH alleged, users were directed to eBay's website. LVMH said the goods being sold on the eBay marketplaces are often counterfeit and this damages its brand.

"Louis Vuitton welcomes this decision, which confirms established case law that aims to protect the consumer from the illicit use of company trademarks," said Nathalie Moull-Berteaux, global IP director for LVMH, in a statement.

Yohan Ruso, director general of eBay in France countered that LVMH was using the keywords issue as a means of controlling the sale of its products, rather than to protect its brand.

"This case is about the use of [keywords] to direct buyers' listings for authentic goods from eBay sellers. This issue is being used by certain rights owners as an excuse to retain total control of what people can buy, where they can buy it from, and how much they have to pay," said Ruso.

"We await with anticipation for the European Court of Justice to rule on [keywords] related issues in the three Google cases referred to it," he added.

The French courts have been a favorite venue for LVMH in its fights against eBay. In June 2008, the company won its first victory when a French civil court of first instance fined eBay €20,000 for the sale of two fake LVMH bags. This was followed by another blow against eBay in July that year when the auctioneer was ordered to pay LVMH €38.6m for not doing enough to prevent counterfeiters from selling fake goods on its site. The French court also banned eBay from selling any LVMH goods on the French version of its auction site.

However, in 2009 LVMH challenged eBay again in a French court for breaching that order. In December that year, eBay was fined €1.7m for breaking the injunction against selling LVMH goods.

All three of these court cases are set for a rematch in appeals hearings scheduled for May 2010. EBay has not yet indicated whether it will also appeal the latest keywords decision.

Source: www.ipworld.com