Ebay calls on brands to stamp out fakes
Ebay is calling on brands to help it stamp out trading in counterfeit goods on its site.
The move follows the online auctioneer’s recent defeat of L’Oreal, which alleged it allowed fake versions of its products to be traded via its site. It was cleared after the judge ruled the site is fulfilling its obligation to try and prevent sales of fake goods.
Ebay wants brands to report fakes via its Verified Rights Owner Program (VeRO).
It claims 2.1m listings were removed during 2008 following VeRO reports from rights owners, and 30,000 sellers were suspended as a result.
The new drive to recruit brands has been dubbed the “fighting fakes with eBay” campaign.
eBay Europe’s senior vice president, says: “We invest millions of dollars annually to prevent potential counterfeits from appearing, and millions more removing from our sites the few that slip through. Clearly, as we do not have the expertise to assess the authenticity of every branded product, we are unable to tackle the problem alone.”
“The fight against counterfeits requires a coordinated and global approach – with Governments, Rights Owners, law enforcement and industry working together to combat the issue,” he adds.
