Online Auction House Liability for the Sale of Trademark Infringing Products

With the rise of the Internet, trademark owners have seen an increase in online trademark infringement. This Comment examines online auction house liability for the sale of trademark infringing products and the methodology used by courts in making this determination. The author outlines contributory trademark jurisprudence in the United States and France and the application of this jurisprudence in Tiffany v. EBay and LVMH v. EBay, respectively. The article then evaluates the implications of the two approaches to determine which approach is more practical and effective. The author concludes that online auction houses should not be liable for trademark infringement unless they have specific knowledge that a third party is infringing a trademark and fail to act to prevent that party from trademark infringement