Further, in order to combat counterfeits, authentic Versace products now carry a Certilogo code, which allows customers to verify the authenticity of their purchase online.
As a result of this ruling, Griffith is prohibited from using Versace's trademark but this is actually the second loss for Griffith who lost a lawsuit against eBay earlier this month. Griffith sued eBay after being suspended from the auction house for infringing on brand owner's intellectual property rights and violating eBay's User Agreement.
California Superior Court granted eBay's motion for summary judgment, holding that Griffith "was bound by the User Agreement at all times," and its suspension "was allowed by, and done pursuant to, the User Agreement." The court noted that the User Agreement was clear eBay had the right to "indefinitely suspend or terminate a membership if it suspects or believes that a user has breached any portion of the User Agreement." Further, "The complaints from intellectual property rights holders about Plaintiff’s account as well as Plaintiff’s violation of eBay policies were sufficient to establish such suspicion and belief and justify the indefinite suspension and/or termination of Plaintiff’s account."
UPDATE (7/17/13): Griffith Suisse Luxury Group Disputes Versace "Victory"
Read More:
Business Insider: Versace Wins 4-Year Battle Over Counterfeit Merchandise
Vogue UK: The Battle Of The Fakes: Versace Wins
Weil.com: Weil Secures Significant Victory for eBay
California Superior Court granted eBay's motion for summary judgment, holding that Griffith "was bound by the User Agreement at all times," and its suspension "was allowed by, and done pursuant to, the User Agreement." The court noted that the User Agreement was clear eBay had the right to "indefinitely suspend or terminate a membership if it suspects or believes that a user has breached any portion of the User Agreement." Further, "The complaints from intellectual property rights holders about Plaintiff’s account as well as Plaintiff’s violation of eBay policies were sufficient to establish such suspicion and belief and justify the indefinite suspension and/or termination of Plaintiff’s account."
UPDATE (7/17/13): Griffith Suisse Luxury Group Disputes Versace "Victory"
Read More:
Business Insider: Versace Wins 4-Year Battle Over Counterfeit Merchandise
Vogue UK: The Battle Of The Fakes: Versace Wins
Weil.com: Weil Secures Significant Victory for eBay
Griffith-Suisse Luxury Group has released a statement refuting announcements by the Versace Group that it had won a court victory in a counterfeit case in Northern California against them after 4 years.
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary, it was Griffith Suisse Luxury Group who first initiated the lawsuit against Versace and Ebay in 2008. Versace was alleged to have abused its VERO rights by instructing Bay to take down multiple of Griffith-Suisse Luxury Group’s listings even though they were evidently all authentic. Ebay took the listings down without the required NOIC (Notice of Claimed Infringement), clearly abetting the luxury brand’s attempt to control the market by removing goods without evidence or basis. As a matter of fact, eBay has not been able to produce a single properly filled out NOIC document for any luxury items de-listed on Griffith-Suisse Luxury Group’s eBay account. It is obvious that eBay has been making biased decisions in favor of the luxury brands at the detriment of it’s own sellers.
Ms. Lara Griffith reiterates their Company’s firm stand on the matter, “As far as we are concerned, Griffith Suisse-Luxury Group, did not sell any counterfeit Versace items on it’s eBay account. The settlement with Versace was a mutual one, wherein both parties agreed not to pursue legal action against each other."
The case against eBay is still in the process of being appealed. If the appeal is successful the public will be able to hear the testimony of former TSAM (Top Seller Account Manager), Adam Smit who stated that at that time, “eBay’s Top management acted like Gods” in regard to determining what to do with it’s members. It will be very interesting to see what else this former eBay employee will reveal about the inner workings of eBay’s top management when he is called to testify against them.
Thanks Joshua, I've updated this post and created a new post with this info. Please find the post here: http://thefashionlawblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/versace-counterfeit-victory-is-disputed.html#more
DeleteJudy