Comparative Study on the Liability for Trade Mark Infringement of Online Auction Providers

摘要

This article reviews the recent decisions on liability of online auction providers for trade mark infringement coming from courts in Europe and the United States. It is observed that among these decisions, the one that is relatively the fairest in allocating responsibilities between trade mark owners and online auction providers is the German decision. However, to strike the right balance, it is necessary to supplement the German ruling with an additional measure which compels the online auction providers to play a more active role in combating counterfeiting.