Tiffany & Co. Loses Appeal Against eBay (TIF, EBAY)

A US appeal court has ruled that eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) is not guilty of trademark infringement and dilution.

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) had filed a case against eBay alleging that the auction site is guilty of selling counterfeit merchandise. According to Reuters, the company also accused eBay of false advertising as its website peddled Tiffany goods, many of which were actually counterfeit.

The court said, “It is true that eBay did not itself sell counterfeit Tiffany goods; only the fraudulent vendors did, and that is in part why we conclude that eBay did not infringe, but eBay did affirmatively advertise the goods sold through its site as Tiffany merchandise." The court has ordered further proceedings.