Belgium brings better news for eBay

Via the IPKat's friend Stephanie Bodoni (Bloomberg) comes news of a win in court for internet auction giant eBay in Belgium. Global cosmetics corporation L'Oréal SA had sued for trade mark infringement. According to the French claimant, eBay had taken insufficient action to prevent the sale of counterfeit cosmetics by users of its service.

Right: the IPKat weblog auditions some different kittens for a change ...

The court, however, appearing to take a similar line to that of a New York federal court last month (see IPKat post here), dismissed the claim. This will not be the end of the matter, since L'Oréal -- expressing itself "extremely surprised" at the decision -- has already announced its intention to appeal. The French courts have already taken the opposite approach, holding eBay liable (see IPKat posts here and here), while the German courts have opted for a sort of halfway house (see the IPKat here).