The French Court of Appeals today denied eBay’s petition to stay an injunction issued June 30 by a Parisian court that requires eBay to halt all sales of four LVMH perfumes [Kenzo, Guerlain, Dior, Givenchy] over any site worldwide that is accessible from France, according to an eBay spokesperson.
[...] The lower court’s order bans not just sales of counterfeits, but sales of genuine bottles of these perfumes [...] According to lawyers for both sides, the injunction even forbids individuals from reselling genuine LVMH products that they received as gifts.
— Read more at Fortune Magazine's Legal Pad blog. And if you missed them, see part 1 and part 2.
This really, seriously ticks me off.
The “over any site worldwide that is accessible from France” is very worrisome, L. You would think that essentially covered the internet.
Wondering how can the French ruling affect other countries?
Whether it is “accessible from France” is hard to measure as well.
How about comparing this with 'because you cannot sell chewing gum in a country, say Singapore, then you cannot sell it anywhere of the world if it is accessible from that country'?
I have just posted the translation of part of the French eBay notice on MUA. Here is what it says:
Cela signifie que vous, utilisateurs français, ne pourrez plus, jusqu'à nouvel ordre, acheter et vendre sur eBay.fr mais aussi sur les autres sites eBay dans le monde, des parfums et cosmétiques des marques cités ci-dessus.
This means that you, French eBayers, will not, until further notice, be able to buy or sell perfumes or cosmetics by Kenzo, Dior, Givenchy and Guerlain not only on eBay.fr but also on the other eBay sites around the world,
Par exemple, si vous voulez revendre sur eBay.fr un parfum Kenzo que vous avez reçu en double ou si vous voulez offrir une crème de jour Christian Dior à une proche, vous ne pourrez plus le faire en tant qu'utilisateurs français. Cette décision ne concerne pas les utilisateurs eBay des autres pays.
For example, if you want to resell on eBay.fr a Kenzo fragrance you received as a gift and already own or if you want to give away a Christian Dior moisturiser to one of your friends, you will not be able to do so as French eBayers. This decision doesn't concern eBayers from other countries.
Thank you so much J!
See below, perhaps it won't…
You know, I really hate LVMH.
The rational adult side of me understands why they've done this – their business is based on brand image and exclusivity as well as protecting their margins. There are also a lot of fakes being sold on eBay….. yes I accept all the sensible reasons.
But the childish, tantrum throwing side of me really hates LVMH for what this decision may mean for eBay. Compared to how much money LVMH take over the counter, how much money do they lose via eBay sales?
I hate them for the fact that if the worst happens and all Dior, Givenchy, etc branded products are withdrawn from sale, where are we going to get our hands on vintage Diorissimo, L'Interdit, and other such gems that LVMH have reformulated the hell out of because they're too wimpy to stand up to the new draconian IFRA rules.
I hate them for turning the classic fragrance houses which produced Mitsouko, L'Heure Bleu, Diorella and Eau Sauvage into brand names that churn out fizzy pink juice like My Insolence and Dior Addict 2, fronted by models that look like they're too young to drink coffee, let alone alcohol.
Most of all, I hate them for potentially taking the fun and bargain hunter spirit out of fragrance hunting on eBay for perfumistas. If I had a rattle I would throw it at Monsieur Bernard Arnault right now.
This strikes me as similar in a way to the music industry's initial approach to the web – fight it as long and as hard as ou can to preserve the traditional revenue streams.
One morning the music biz woke up to discover that it had essentially been passed right by, and it's been playing catch-up ever since. Instead of embracing the internet and all of its opportunities, companies like LVMH are resisting it, and will thus end up losers in the long run.
Yes, I think they are perfectly right to pursue fraudsters, whether on eBay or in markets in New York City or Bangkok.
But preventing people re-selling unwanted gifts? I'm seeing sledgehammers and walnuts…
So agree on the music business — it's almost comical to watch them (comical unless you're one of the people being sued by the RIAA).
I would guess it is not about lost sales at all. Still, agree it is most unfortunate. I had not even thought about vintage — very silly if you can't sell a 15 year old bottle of Diorissimo — and you're right, where else are you going to find one?
I must say that I am happy with the ruling. Ebay in the past has refused to take any responsibility for fakes, stolen goods, imitations etc being sold on their site. They have pretented long enough it did not happen. Did you ever try to complain to ebay? Did you ever succeed? Nope… Good on LVMH and I sincerely hope that ebay will change its customer unfriendly attitude and become once more a place where people can sell and buy goods without being defrauded.
I can't disagree, but still, I'd rather see things remain the way they are, or better yet, go back to allowing decants. I'm very careful who I buy from at eBay and I've been very lucky — I really haven't had problems. But if everybody forbids sale of their items, it won't be a place where you can sell and buy good without being defrauded so much as a place where you can't buy a wide variety of goods at all.