The Louis Vuitton v. eBay decision that is.  It should be here on the 30th- tomorrow that is.

Are you ready?

After that amazing Candadian decision- $1 million for a fairly small fashion store (with only a couple locations)… and the $30,000 eBay had to pay Hermes last month after a decision against them in a French court for allowing 3 (yes, three) fake Hermes on the site…  I’m DYING to hear what the French Courts are going to say in the Louis Vuitton lawsuit against eBay Inc.

Louis Vuitton, et al, is seeking 51 million Euro ($80 MILLION) in damages for negligence and the illicit sales of counterfeit bags on their site.

(As an aside- as someone who’s been on eBay since 1999, I will say that eBay has done a pretty good job in the last couple years at getting, I’d estimate 95% LESS fake Louis Vuitton listed on the site than they did years ago…

There was a day when the vast, vast majority of the Louis Vuitton bags listed on the site were fake.  Now, the opposite is true.)

This is the part that scares me…

Part of the decision will answer perfume brands Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy and Kenzo who have an issue with eBay even when they allow AUTHENTIC goods to be listed.  They claim that even this is illegal because these companies hold tight control on their distribution chains and ONLY permit specialist, authorized dealers to sell their goods.

I can’t wait…

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OK… so follow me here. A French court found in favor of Louis Vuitton in a trademark counterfeiting, unfair competition and misleading advertising battle they’ve been waging with internet behemoth , Google since 2004.

The Court originally awarded Louis Vuitton a paltry $257,430 in damages, but more importantly, the case could dramatically alter the way Google handles selling Adwords- its search-related, sponsored advertisements. Louis Vuitton has (for good reason) a problem with the fact that Google sells it’s trademarked name to the highest bidder (who happens to often times be a counterfeit dealer).

Google has appealed, and the case is now sitting before the European Union’s highest court- the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg. Google denies the merits of the Louis Vuitton case and has vowed to “defend vigorously against them.”

Most Google searches you do come up with un-paid results listed on the left/center of the page. But, on the right hand side of the page, you’ll find the results for Google Adwords. To get placement in these results… you have to pay Google. The more you pay per click, the higher you come up in the Google result.

The same results come up in Google Mail. For instance, I just sent a Louis Vuitton related email to myself at one of my Gmail accounts… and this suggested “Sponsored Link” to a site for Louis Vuitton Replicas came up:

Interesting quote from a Louis Vuitton rep re: the case:

“It was absolutely unthinkable that a company like Google be authorized, in the scope of its advertising business, to sell the Louis Vuitton trademark to third parties, specifically to Web sites selling counterfeits. . . This milestone ruling grants protection for the first time to both consumers and brand owners by finding that Google’s Adwords and Premium Sponsorship services as misleading advertising services,”

(As a personal note, I have tried to use Google Adwords to advertise the authentic Louis Vuitton items that we have listed here on our www.fashionphile.com website and fashionphile listings on eBay.com. I have never been able to do so successfully, because Google would not let me use the words “Louis Vuitton,” “damier”, “epi”, etc. in my ad. I always found it odd that I couldn’t do it, but counterfeiters found a way to pull it off… Anyway, I guess this is where that sensitivity came from.)

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Wow.  This could end up being costly to eBay.

It looks like a French court found eBay guilty of selling three counterfeit Hermes handbags and ordered them (and the woman who listed the bags) to pay $30,000 dollars in damages to Hermes.  Not only that- but (and this is my favorite part of the ruling)… they are required to POST the ruling on the eBay France website for three months!!!

Hermes attorney’s went for it bigtime, and weren’t mincing words.  Attorney Emmanuel Colomes said of eBay,

“We are satisfied that they should be considered counterfeiters”

 And apparently, the court agreed.  The ruling said:

“By selling Hermes bags and branded accessories on the eBay.fr site, and by failing to act within their powers to prevent reprehensible use of the site,” (the woman who listed the fakes and eBay) “committed acts of counterfeiting and imitation of French brand names … to the detriment of Hermes international,”

Hmmm….  This just makes me think of the ongoing Tiffany & Company and Louis Vuitton v. eBay cases.   Tiffany & Co. is a US case, I believe.  But, LV also filed in France.  French courts are MUCH more protective of the rights owners and distribution rights etc. of players in the fashion industry than we are here in the US.

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Well, it looks like heck of a lot of people in China are still ticked off about the fiasco that ensued with the Olympic torch as it was carried through Paris. They’re boycotting Louis Vuitton- and all LVMH companies in protest.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy has stepped up to the plate, and is apparently now trying to patch things up. He sent an a letter of apology to Olympic torch holding, Paralympic athlete, fencer Jin Jing, saying:

“I would like to express to you my deep feeling towards the way you were shoved in Paris on April 7 when you were holding the Olympic flame… I understand the Chinese people’s feelings were hurt by what went on that day, and especially by the intolerable attack you suffered and which I condemn with the utmost force.”

The Chinese spend A LOT of money on luxury goods- third only to Japan and the US. LVMH is depending on China to hedge the sluggish economic situation we’re dealing with here in the US of A!

Today, WWD pointed out,

“Louis Vuitton plans to send some of the world’s finest vintage cars roaring through China next month as it opens its second location in Chengdu — and is considering third and fourth locations in that city alone as demand for European luxury booms in the Asian giant.”

Read more about it from Bloomberg…

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On February 26, France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy along with his Finance Minister- Christine Lagarde, took a tour of the Saint Pourcain Sur Sioule, Louis Vuitton workshop.

Looks like they’re getting a look at the new Richard Prince line.

Sarkozy has a lot of ideas about how to stimulate the economy and stop the rise in inflation (in January- it was the highest it’s been in 11 years). But he’s probably doing a little economics lesson from the folks at LVMH. When every other retailer on the block is taking a good hit- with a sales slump and cooling economy- LVMH is seeing record profits. They’re doing something right.

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(Louis Vuitton’s Asneires, France workshop)

No. Not yet anyway. We know that Louis Vuitton currently has “workshops” in France, the USA, Spain, Italy & Germany… but I thought this was a fascinating article about the wonderful Indian leather company, Hidesign Leather.

Dilip Kapur, President of Hidesign talks about the painstaking process that goes into the hand treatment of their leather. Their methodology is admirable: expensive, but eco-friendly… and apparently I’m not the only one who thinks so. Dilip said in the article:

“That’s what Louis Vuitton liked the most about us — our craftsmanship and the skills of our workers”

Hmmm, interesting. I wonder why LVMH is evaluating his business?

Last year, I read the wonderful book, The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman. It’s clear that everyone else is taking advantage of the economical, plentiful, hardworking, but skilled labor pool in India… I guess, why not Louis Vuitton?

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- depending on how you look at it!

It was a risky move snapping this pic out my window on the drive from Normany to Paris this Christmas! But so worth it!

If you’re looking for a sign- trying to decide between the Deauville & the Trouville… maybe we can help!

We happen to have the smaller of the two- an authentic monogram Louis Vuitton Trouville on our website right now! Sure, you could buy a new one on Eluxury for $940- but why not save just a smidge less than $400 on a gently used one from FASHIONPHILE!

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No, this isn’t the latest fragrance from Chanel… I’m referring to No 31 Rue Cambon, Paris: the personal apartment of Coco Chanel.  It’s kept the same as it was at her death in 1971.  Take a peek inside:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpinr4Uts-8]

Interesting tidbits

• the apartment smells like No. 5
• her quilted suede couch inspired her to do quilted leather
• she collected ornamental lions
• take a look at “the Milky Way”- diamonds ARE a girl’s best friend!

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