Ebay sued by Tiffany for not controlling counterfeiting

Tiffany & Co., the world’s second- biggest luxury jeweler, said EBay Inc. is a “rat’s nest” for counterfeiting and urged a judge to rule that the biggest online auctioneer was liable for infringement according to a report in Bloomberg. Tiffany assailed EBay in a legal brief filed Dec. 7 to U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan, as the companies await his ruling in a trademark infringement trial. EBay said in its brief that it’s a “model citizen” in the fight against counterfeiting. At issue is whether EBay must pay damages for failing to make adequate efforts to block sales of counterfeit silver jewelry. New York-based Tiffany and other retailers claim online sales of counterfeit clothes, bags and jewelry cost them about $30 billion a year.