Posts tagged eBay

The internet is viewed as a “double-edged sword” for businesses, according to the latest brands research from intellectual property group, Marks & Clerk.

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of marketers feel that  while the digital age has brought tremendous opportunity for brand promotion, intellectual property abuses and threats to brand integrity are more numerous and difficult to protect against.

Evil eBay?

Respondents reserved particular criticism for eBay, which has been at the centre of a recent storm of court battles with luxury goods companies over the abundance of counterfeit goods for sale on its auction site.

More than 86% claim that eBay should be at least partly liable for the distribution of counterfeit goods on its site, while 59% claim eBay’s current efforts to combat counterfeiters using its site are insufficient. A further 64% described it as “unreasonable” to expect brand owners to police individual items on the site themselves. A sizeable majority (91%) believe that stricter conditions and penalties ought to be directly imposed on secondary markets such as eBay, to combat counterfeiting.

Pam Withers, Partner at Marks & Clerk, said, “For many brand owners, the assertion that eBay encourages counterfeiting is probably politely described as an understatement. Platforms like eBay offer the counterfeiting industry one of the most effective distribution channels we have ever seen, while the size and scale of online marketplaces makes constant monitoring and the detection of crime almost impossible for brand owners.” Read the rest of this entry »