LVMH vs eBay

Ding ding ding ding. LVMH smacks eBay down in French courts in Round 2 of their bitter rivalry. As you may recall, in Round 1 LVMH won an order requiring eBay to not sell LVMH brands (Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Kenzo, Givenchy etc) on eBay, on the grounds LVMH has exclusive contracts with specialist retailers - and eBay, with its tacky colour schemes, lowest-common denominator font and propensity to sell fakes, is certainly not an LVMH specialist retailer. This was a year ago. eBay has continued to punch on in defiance - or basically an inability to control its legs - of the court order.


Round 2, LVMH decides to settle the score once and for all. LVMH lands a body blow, with eBay fined by the courst $2.8 million for trading in breach of the order. A left to the jaw, with an injunction preventing eBay from selling LVMH-branded products. LVMH claims it will continue to kick eBay when it's down if it doesn't stop the assault: "so long as the illicit practices continue, eBay must continue to be fined," Pierre Gode, a director of LVMH, said in the break.

eBay in response has at once tried to play down LVMH's attack and also pull out the conspiracy theory against consumers: A spokeswoman said "We felt we did everything humanly and physically possible to comply with the injunction. We question the real motivation why brands are bringing these cases.

"We really believe it is to prevent the likes of you and I from buying our favourite goods online. Tomorrow, we could get court cases saying you cannot sell your sofa or buy your clothes online." Um. Yeah right.

Alex von Schirmeister, the general manager of eBay in France, called the fine "completely disproportionate ... That said, the fine is much less than it could have been. This shows the judge has taken into account the effort to respect the injunction."

What do you guys think? Good call? Or are consumers being disempowered - both to sell products they own, and to buy online?