New York Law Journal on Tiffany v. eBay

Thursday August 19th, the NYLJ has this article about Tiffany's suit against eBay for direct and contributory trademark infringement over using its name as a keyword for links that send Internet customers to eBay auctions and failing to prevent auctions of counterfeit Tiffany products. New York is a town that knows its knockoffs, and that lots of shoppers want a bag they can afford that says "Louis Vuitton" and don't care a fig where it comes from or how it's made. The article points out that high-end art and antiques auction houses undertake significant efforts to avoid selling forgeries and falsely attributed works, but also observes that eBay is not only an art gallery but a flea market and many other things as well, selling new and used items on an enormous scale. The case could set precedent and become a trademark chestnut, but my money says it settles.