Ebay launches new anti-counterfeiting campaign

Ebay UK has launched a new anti-counterfeiting campaign to drive down the number of fake consumer electronics items sold on the auction site.

The Fighting Fakes with Ebay initiative is targeting consumer electronics companies that the auction site wants to sign up for its Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) programme.

This free scheme allows rights holders to report an item as potentially counterfeit to the auction site so the items can be removed and offers search tools for suspect listings.

Counterfeits are a global problem and the auction site has been accused by rights holders and customers of not doing enough to protect them from the fraudsters.

Although Ebay spends around $10 million a year to tackle the issue and has a team of 2,000 staff dedicated to fighting the trade in counterfeit goods, it has been embroiled in some high profile court cases in the US, Europe and the UK, the latest of which was brought by cosmetics giant L’Oreal.

A French judge ruled Ebay was not liable for the sale of any counterfeit L'Oreal products through its website, but it still faces a legal suit from the cosmetics firm in the UK, Spain and Germany.

Doug McCallum, senior vice persident, Ebay Europe said: “Counterfeiters’ sophistication keeps increasing, making it ever harder to differentiate a genuine item from a fake.

“We invest millions of dollars annually to prevent potential counterfeits from appearing, and millions more removing from our sites the few that slip through. Clearly, as we do not have the expertise to assess the authenticity of every branded product, we are unable to tackle the problem alone.”

“The fight against counterfeits requires a coordinated and global approach – with Governments, Rights Owners, law enforcement and industry working together to combat the issue.

“We hope this latest anti-counterfeit initiative will raise awareness and put the VeRO programme and the support it offers, front of mind with Rights Owners.”

In March this year, the auction site also roped in the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to help combat counterfeiting and piracy on its site.

It hopes that this UK Government body, which looks after intellectual rights in the UK, will encourage more companies to work with it, rather than sue it, in its fight to clamp down on traders selling counterfeit products.