Tiffany Inc. v. eBay, Inc.
| Tiffany Inc. v. eBay, Inc. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Court | United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit |
| Full case name | Tiffany Inc. v. eBay, Inc. |
| Decided | April 1, 2010 |
| Citation(s) | 600 F.3d 93 |
| Case history | |
| Prior action(s) | Tiffany Inc. v. eBay, Inc., 576 F. Supp.2d 463 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) (district court found no trademark infringement, unfair competition, false advertising, trademark dilution) |
| Subsequent action(s) |
Tiffany Inc. v. eBay, Inc., 2010 WL 3733894 (S.D.N.Y. 2010) (district court found no evidence of false advertisement) Tiffany Inc. v. eBay, Inc., 131 S. Ct. 647 (writ of certiorari denied by Supreme Court) |
| Case opinions | |
| eBay’s use of the Tiffany trademark is protected by the nominative fair use defense. Generalized knowledge of infringing activities by third parties is insufficient to attach contributory trademark infringement liability. Extrinsic evidence is necessary to determine customer confusion for Lanham Act false advertisement liability. | |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Robert David Sack, Barrington Daniels Parker, Jr., Richard W. Goldberg |
| Keywords | |
| counterfeiting, Lanham Act, trademark infringement, trademark dilution, nominative fair use | |
Tiffany Inc. v. eBay, Inc., 2010 WL 3733894 (S.D.N.Y. 2010) (district court found no evidence of false advertisement)
Tiffany Inc. v. eBay Inc., 600 F.3d 93 (2d Cir. 2010), established that trademark owners have the burden of policing for counterfeit items when their products are sold in an online marketplace. Tiffany sued eBay for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and false advertising but eventually lost against eBay on all claims.
eBay is an online auction website founded in 1995. In 2010, eBay had more than 94 million users worldwide who collectively traded more than $2,000 worth of goods every second.
eBay addresses trademark owners’ concerns through their Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program and "fraud engine". Through VeRO, owners of trademarks report potentially infringing listings to eBay by submitting a Notice of Claimed Infringement form (NOCI). eBay staff review submitted NOCIs and remove the offending listings if the information is accurate. The fraud engine is a collection of software rules and models that automatically find and remove listings that violate eBay policies.
Tiffany & Co. was founded in New York City in 1837 and has developed a reputation for selling high-quality jewelry, watches and various household items. In 2009, Tiffany had worldwide net earnings of $368.4 million, 90% of which derived from jewelry sales.
In May 2003, Tiffany complained to eBay regarding the sale of counterfeit items on its website and eBay recommended Tiffany participate in VeRO. In 2004 (and again in 2005 after litigation ensued), Tiffany conducted surveys to determine the extent of counterfeiting occurring on eBay. Tiffany hired a third party to purchase a random sample of items bought from eBay using the keywords "Tiffany" and "sterling" and then inspected these items for authenticity. 136 pieces were purchased in 2004, 73.1% of which were counterfeit, 5% were authentic, and the remaining 21.9% were unverifiable. 139 items were purchased in 2005, 75.5% of which were counterfeit.
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