SHANGHAI (AFX) - A Danish clothing company yesterday accused eBay Eachnet, one of China's largest e-commerce Websites, of providing a trade platform for people selling counterfeit goods, the Shanghai Daily reported.
Aktieselskabet Af 21 November 2001, which owns the trademarks Only, Vero Moda and Jack & Jones, has filed a suit with the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate Court, demanding eBay stop the sales of fake clothing, the paper said.
It is also seeking a public apology and 200,000 yuan in compensation, it added.
The Danish company said it bought the rights to the various brands in 2004 and authorized Best Seller Garment (Tianjin) Co Ltd to produce and sell clothes with the trademarks in China.
Since 2004, the company says it has seen numerous articles of fake clothing bearing the brands sold on eBay. The clothes sold for about half the price genuine articles cost in department stores, the company said.
Some stores set up on eBay's trading platform claim to be an 'Only Supermarket' and 'Vero Moda Franchise,' the plaintiff's lawyer, Yang Jiqing, told the paper.
'After we sent a letter to eBay, it still allowed its users to sell counterfeits,' Yang was cited as saying.
'Because it's impossible for us to verify the identity of each online seller, as they use all kinds of strange names, we are arguing that eBay sold fakes or provided the platform for fake trade on purpose.'
cm/dk