Supremes' 'No' on Tiffany Review Keeps Status Quo

摘要

In Tiffany v. eBay, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed in November the District Court's ruling in favor of eBay on the key issue of contributory trademark infringement, as well as direct infringement and dilution, but remanded on the issue of false advertising.rnAnd on November 29, the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, denied certiorari in Tiffany's appeal.rnThe upshot of the Second Circuit holding - and the Supreme Court's denial to hear the appeal - is that despite a general knowledge that a significant percentage of Tiffany goods sold on eBay were counterfeit, eBay did not have a duty to prevent any such sales, unless and until a specific instance of fraud was brought to its attention.