In the beginning of March, L’Oréal decided to take eBay to court.  Sometimes fake L’Oréal products appear to sell on eBay and this is why the cosmetics company wanted the online auction company to pay for it.

L’Oréal took eBay to court in four countries, but earlier this week they won a victory in France.  Last year, eBay had to pay €38.6million as part of a fine to Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton group for a similar case.  eBay also won a similar case against the Rolex Group in Germany several years ago. A ruling is expected to be made in the U.K. soon.

L’Oréal claimed that 60% of their cosmetics being sold on eBay were counterfeits, but the French courts ruled that eBay is meeting obligations to combat fake products from selling.

“This is a clear legal victory for eBay and an important victory for consumers. We are delighted that eBay’s meaningful efforts to fight counterfeits online have been recognised by the court. Today 99% of all items listed on eBay are genuine products and we continue to work hard to ensure eBay is a safe and trusted place to shop,” stated Richard Ambrose, the head of trust and safety for eBay UK and Ireland.  “We have always believed that co-operation is the best way to fight counterfeits. Ongoing dialogue and collaboration, rather than litigation, is the only way to effectively identify and remove any counterfeit items which do appear on our site.”

L’Oréal, best known for their high-end cosmetics is taking eBay to court over fake goods.  L’Oréal believes that eBay does not take enough corrective measures in terms of preventing the sale of counterfeit products and that they should be liable.  eBay argued that they are simply just a trading platform.  L’Oréal lost a similar case against eBay in Belgium last year.  However eBay lost a case against Louis Vuitton last year and had to forfeit $30 million.

eBay is contesting the case.

[via Guardian]