eBay fine on LVMH fakes slashed

A French court slashed the fines eBay Inc must pay in a suit over sales of counterfeit LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA goods from almost 40 million euros ($51.3 million) to 5.6 million euros.

The appeals court reduced the fines in a ruling in Paris today, while upholding findings against San Jose, California- based eBay from the lower tribunal. The appeals court didn’t give any reasoning for the decision. The case is part of an on-going dispute between eBay, the most visited US e-commerce site, and French brand owners over online sales. The decision involves a trio of June 30, 2008, rulings by the Paris commercial court, awarding LVMH, the world’s largest luxury-goods maker, damages for trademark violations and harm to its brands’ images, as well as halting the sale of some perfumes and cosmetics to French buyers.

“It’s LVMH that will have to repay over 33 million euros to eBay,” said Yohan Ruso, managing director of eBay in France, today, because eBay has already paid the original fine. “It’s a victory for eBay.”