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The Tabberone™ Archives These articles concern what we consider major trademark and copyright issues. They are usually reproduced with the original source referenced. Bear in mind, these articles are copyrighted and commercial use without permission of the authors may be considered infringement. The intended use here is educational, commentary and non-commercial. The reason they are reproduced in the Tabberone™ Archives, as opposed to just providing a link, is because links disappear and pages are removed. That presents a messy confirmation process that is annoying to the browser (you) but also presents a credibility issue. We do not claim any rights in these pieces. Do not regard the absence of a copyright statement or © to mean the article is not copyrighted. Some sites do not have a copyright statement. When an article or a comment is posted on the internet by the copyright owner, the owner is seeking a world-wide, 24/7 audience; sometimes for a limited amount of time, sometimes indefinitely. In essence, an internet posting intentionally relinquishes one's copyright for exclusivity because the owner has posted it on the internet to been seen by everyone, everywhere. The Tabberone™ Archives non-commercial duplication of the posting is simply a continuance of the original wishes of the copyright owner. We post these articles for reference, for commentary and for confirmarion of our position. |
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Source: http://www.auctionbytes.com/pages/abu/y201/m04/abu0036/s05 June 8, 2003. - Content is unaltered. Advertising, links and such has been removed. |
Auctionbytes-Update, Number 36 - April 22, 2001 - ISSN 1529-6703 |
| Beware Designer Items! By Ina Steiner April 22, 2001 |
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A reader wrote to me telling me that her auction was pulled from eBay, and wondered if I knew anything that might help her figure out why. What I discovered amazed me.
The auction in question was a Chanel necklace. Our reader, Marina, bought the necklace from an estate sale. She listed the necklace on eBay, which then pulled the auction citing VERO. VERO is eBay's "Verified Rights Owner" program for protecting intellectual property. EBay allows any person or company who holds intellectual property rights (such as a copyright, trademark or patent) become a VeRO program member. EBay has a page explaining the VERO program at http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/vero-program.html. Here's Chanel's explanation of its participation in eBay's VERO program from its AboutMe page http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/chanelusa "CHANEL has expended considerable resources to develop and maintain a reputation for providing the highest quality products and services to its customers. Through the auction of counterfeit merchandise, people attempt to trade off of CHANEL's well-earned reputation. These auctions not only cause monetary damage, but also damage CHANEL's reputation, as many of the purchasers of inferior counterfeit products will attribute the poor quality merchandise to Chanel. Having spent many years cultivating its strong reputation, CHANEL must take action to ensure that online auctions of counterfeit goods are ended, even by single-item sellers." I wrote to Chanel, and its lawyer contacted Marina and sent her an email: >>>> This message is written to you on behalf of Chanel, Inc. ("Chanel"). Chanel believes that the necklace you offered for sale on eBay is an infringing copy of a genuine Chanel necklace. If you wish, you may send your necklace to us at the following address for verification of authenticity:
Keats McFarland & Wilson LLP Chanel endeavors to authenticate suspect merchandise in a timely manner, however, the authentication process requires review of all collateral information a bout the item you possess and may take some time. In addition, Chanel's experts reviewed your item again and confirmed that it appears to be fake. Therefore, it is likely that the authentication of your item would yield the same result. However, if Chanel verifies that your necklace is genuine, you will be allowed to relist it for sale on eBay. Regardless of its authenticity, your necklace will be returned to you. <<<<< What happens when you want to buy a designer item at an estate sale or auction that you think may be a genuine article, but there is no receipt? Think twice. Even if you have a receipt, if a VERO participant believes your item to be a reproduction, and it asks eBay to pull the auction, eBay WILL pull the auction. Apparently eBay does not warn the seller or ask for proof of authenticity. A kind of "shoot now, ask questions later" policy. So, if you were like me and thought VERO was only for illegal software and music recordings and the like, beware! Your designer necklace auction may be choked in midstream. Here's a list of VERO participants: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/vero-aboutme.html
About the author:
Copyright 1999-2003. |
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