2CYBER LAW
Issue
Whether eBay has constituted the commission of direct infringement of trademark,
contributory infringement of trademark, unfair competition, false advertisement and dilution of
trademark and whether the infringing conduct of eBay affects and violates the public policy.
Arguments
It was argued by Tiffany that advertisement for the availability was made by the eBay for
the Tiffany goods in several platforms including the homepage of eBay; it has also been argued
by Tiffany that violation of the Trademark Act 1946 and New York state common law has been
made by eBay in following three ways, firstly eBay made profit out of the Tiffany jewellery sale
which resulted from Tiffany trademark. Secondly, Yahoo and Google sponsored links were
bought by eBay which advertised the listing of Tiffany items. Lastly, eBay must be held
severally and jointly liable with all the offending sellers. It was argued by Tiffany that eBay has
constituted the contributory infringement of trademark. It was argued by eBay that their website
is a service which provides to the third parties venue for the listing. It was argued by tiffany that
unfair competition, false advertisement and dilution of trademark have been practised by eBay.
Applicable laws
It was alleged by Tiffany that eBay has committed infringement of trademark by
violating section 32 of the Trademark Act 1946, which authorizes a registered mark owner of
bringing a civil action with the trademark and patent office against the person violating the
section. It can be supported with the case of " ITC Ltd. v. Punchgini, Inc., 482 F.3d 135, 145-46
(2d Cir.), where the court laid down the test of two-prong, where the first determines the
plaintiff’s entitlement to protection of that mark and the second determines the defendant’s

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