A Safe Harbor for Trademark: Reevaluating Secondary Trademark Liability After Tiffany v. eBay

摘要

This article seeks to establish that the current method of regulating trademark infringement for counterfeit goods on the Internet leaves unclear the rights of trademark holders and the responsibilities of ISPs. Fraud perpetrated over the Internet continues to grow and ISPs continue to be unsure of their liability. If Tiffany prevails at the Second Circuit, online auction sites, in their current form, would face potentially crippling litigation costs, jeopardizing their business models. And if eBay succeeds, trademark infringement on the Internet will likely increase, causing more consumer confusion and a decrease in the goodwill of well-known trademarks.