Tiffany aims at eBay in counterfeit fight

November 20 2007: 4:44 PM EST

NEW YORK (Dow Jones/AP) -- Tiffany & Co.'s top executive said Tuesday that pursuing litigation against eBay Inc. was more effective and economical at stopping counterfeit sales of its products than targeting individual sellers on the online auction site.

At a hearing in federal court in Manhattan, Michael J. Kowalski, the jewelry retailer's chairman and chief executive, said it has been very difficult to pursue individual sellers who list knockoffs on eBay, with little economic return. He described the counterfeit sellers as "phantasms," who have adopted new identities and returned to selling on the Web site.

The New York-based jeweler filed seven lawsuits over sales of counterfeit Tiffany products on the Internet - four against individuals sellers on eBay - prior to pursuing action against eBay, Kowalski said.

"The heart of the issue was the distribution network, not the seller," Kowalski said.

Tiffany (Charts) sued eBay (Charts, Fortune 500) in 2004, alleging that the San Jose, Calif., company should engage in automatic screening of its listing for counterfeit products on its site, instead of requiring trademark holders to bring counterfeit items to its attention.

In the past five years, Tiffany has spent about $14 million on its efforts to stop sales of counterfeit copies of its products, Kowalski said. The company has undertaken about 600 enforcement actions in the past five years, including working with law enforcement to pursue individual sellers, he said.

On cross-examination by eBay lawyer Bruce Rich, Kowalski said that $3 million to $5 million of that expense has gone to funding its litigation against eBay.

Kowalski was the final live witness in the case, which is being heard as bench trial before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan. Both sides are expected to file post-trial briefs in the case next month.

Tiffany informed eBay, in a cease-and-desist letter in 2003, that the company felt anyone selling more than five Tiffany items at a time on the Web site was likely selling counterfeit goods.

Kowalski said Tiffany believed that was a conservative number because the company's customers usually purchase one item at a time as a gift and there's no third-party distribution network for Tiffany products in the U.S.

He also said the company has a "liberal" return policy and that likely would play a factor in whether consumers would resell their Tiffany items on eBay.

In his closing argument Tuesday, Rich, eBay's lawyer, said the law places the "primary policing" responsibility on Tiffany as the trademark holder and that Tiffany has better expertise to identify counterfeit designs of its products.

Rich said eBay has spent tens of millions of dollars on its efforts to combat counterfeit sales and is responsive when companies raise issues about an individual who may be selling knockoffs.

I sure always have wondered how & why a multi-billion dollar corporation could/would want to be freeloading for their security, along with everything else.

Makes me also wonder why all multi-billion $$ corporations don't have such a following of zealots? Where are all the oil company fanboys for instance?
Is there a "fan club" or "community" for the baby seal hunters or stip mining companies too? Hmmm.
 
This trial is supposed to be over before long, but I really doubt anything will come of it.

After all, look what happened with that Merc thing.

Convicted theif ebay is apparently still using the stolen code, & has somehow even managed to tie up the injunction that for any other similar circumstance would have been issued.

Who cares if only 5% of the alleged Tiffany (or any brands  for that matter)  items on ebay are even real or not? The important thing is driving them to your sleazy website and getting them to sign up for everything!

Everything else there is fake, like the "security" the "core values" etc.

You can bet that if Tiffany wins, there will be appeal after appeal.
That trial is over, BTW,  it is being deliberated right now. I forget the date I read where the decision will be handed down.

Handsy Dirty, or whatever that one spokesmen clown's name is, said ebay was very happy about how that went for sleaz, err ebay or something like that.

I still never have seen any reports of what ebay ever does with their share of the $$ from all those scams, counterfeits, etc..

The bulk of the money they spend is for censorship, not security though.

They FREELOAD for their security EVERYONE KNOWS THAT!!!
You can see their idea of security right here.

(this is Quattro Stagioni for the soundtrack, BTW. Illegal to listen to this on el-cheapo computer speakers in all 50 states BTW,
I recommend fine qualty vintage equipment for bestest resutz.)


When the fraud reports are too numerous, they bork the forms!!! (or NARU the person reporting or posting about it. FACT!)


Lastly.... That's my baby picture!!! Did you steal that from me off a public website?
What are you? Some kind of ...st-st-st-... stalker or something??





-- Edited by budnonymous at 15:40, 2007-11-29