Should Ebay Sell Counterfeit Items on Their Website
In today’s society, how can any company sue another company for goods sold? For they are simply doing what any business would do and that is to make a profit. I’m sure that no company would purposely defy the law such as the Trademark Counterfeiting Act of 1984 which prohibits the selling of goods with another company’s trademark without permission or the Anticounterfeiting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) that imposes criminal liability for trafficking counterfeit goods. These violations would have stiff fines monetarily or even up to prison time. It would cause great damage to the companies that really want to make a profit. After all it is a business!
My opinion is EBay should not be held responsible for counterfeit goods sold over the internet. There is no real way to prove that their customer online is selling an item on EBay that is counterfeit. It’s not like a walk up business that can physically examine the merchandise. I’m sure they would hope that the customers use integrity and good judgment as to what they put online. Now I do believe that as a business owner, EBay should have some policy and rules in place to say what can be sold online like Craig’s list. It may not be “counterfeit proof” but it’s a start in the right direction.
However according to legalmatch.com, “On the other hand, it is illegal to manufacture and distribute counterfeit goods.” but it does happen. So if EBay is truly using counterfeit goods then they should be punished. But you still have to prove it! Look at what the European Court of Justice had to say, “ECJ (Court of Justice of the European Union) has established rules for seizing counterfeit goods within the EU, but sometimes these rules have proved to be against the interests of the trademark owners.” In other words, they don’t work as they should to protect counterfeiting as much as they try even with proof. The internet business does not leave any room for ensuring what is sold is legitimate;