Despite the ruling, still no word as to what eb did with IT's share of all the dirty profits they made/are making

EBay Did Enough to Prevent Fake Rolex Sales, German Court Rules

By Karin Matussek and Heather Smith

Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- EBay Inc., the world's largest online auctioneer, won a German court ruling in a Rolex Group case over sales of counterfeit goods on EBay's Web site.

The decision on Feb. 24 in Dusseldorf found that Rolex couldn't show that any counterfeit goods were offered on EBay after the company had been being alerted to the sales, Ulrich Egger, spokesman for the court, said in an interview today.

EBay faces a hearing next month in London on similar claims by L'Oreal SA, the world's largest cosmetics maker. EBay has had mixed success in cases over counterfeits, winning last year against Tiffany & Co. in New York and L'Oreal in Brussels. It lost to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA and Hermes International in France.

Rolex had sued EBay in 2001 over counterfeits sold on its site. The high court in 2007 found EBay had to monitor its site to prevent fakes from being sold once it had become aware of the problem.

The Federal Court of Justice had said EBay can't be held liable for damages to Rolex. The court told the Dusseldorf court to review how EBay was alerted about the fakes and whether it took sufficient action.

Anette Haertling, Frankfurt-based spokeswoman for Rolex, declined to comment.