|
The
EU court said it was now up to two national courts to decide
whether this was indeed the case.
Louboutin brought cases against Amazon in a Belgian and a
Luxembourg court in 2019, saying the retailer regularly
displayed advertisements for red-soled shoes put on the market
without Louboutin's consent.
Louboutin's signature red sole is registered as a trademark
within the EU. Both courts had sought the guidance of the
Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
In its ruling on Thursday, the EU court said Amazon, as an
online sales platform, may be considered responsible for the
intellectual property breaches involved in the advertisements of
counterfeit products that feature Louboutin's trademarked red
sole.
That is because the presentation of the advertisements may give
users of its website the impression that Amazon - rather than a
third-party seller - is responsible for the advertisements and
benefiting from them, the court said.
"We will study the Court’s decision," an Amazon spokesperson
said.
Thierry Van Innis, Louboutin's lawyer, said the European court
had followed the designer's arguments "in every detail".
"Amazon can be held accountable for the breaches as if the
platform was itself the seller... Amazon will be forced to
change their model and stop misleading the public by mixing up
their own and third-party offers," he told Reuters.
Van Innis said Louboutin was not currently seeking financial
compensation. "We're not talking money at this stage. We want
the breaches to stop," he said.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett, Tassilo HummelEditing by Mark Potter)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
