German Court Says EBay Must Work To Halt Sale Of Fake Rolexes

Despite its best efforts, eBay has been plagued by con artists attempting to sell a variety of counterfeit goods on its site.
EBay must do more to halt sales of counterfeit goods on its site because of a ruling in a German court involving the sale of fake Rolex watches.

EBay reported the measure Friday in a SEC filing, although the actual court decision was reached back in June.

The SEC filing was the latest event in a six-year dispute between eBay and Montres Rolex SA and its affiliates. EBay had won earlier decisions in the dispute.

EBay has been plagued by con artists attempting to sell a variety of counterfeit goods on its site. The auction firm has had some success in tightening up its policies governing the sale of goods. Last month, two men were cited for selling $6 million of counterfeit software on the auction site.

"The (German) court's decision found that eBay must take reasonable measures to prevent recurrence (of counterfeit Rolex postings) once it is informed of clearly identified infringement," eBay said in the SEC filing.

The firm noted that the decision will likely lead to additional cases in Germany, which is eBay's second largest auction market -- the U.S. is the largest.

"We expect that this ruling will likely result in increased litigation against us in Germany," eBay said, "although we do not currently believe that it will require a significant change in our business practices."

In addition to its legal cases in Germany, eBay is defending two lawsuits in French courts. Luxury apparel and clothiers Louis Vuitton Malletier and Christian Dior Couture claim eBay broke French law with its advertising keywords, which allows sellers to post items for counterfeit goods

EBay also is embroiled in legal tussles with several French perfume makers. The companies argue the San Jose, Calif.-based online marketplace interferes with their distribution network.

Starring Rolex? Watches in the movies shape character, mood and plot

PARIS: According to the Hollywood entertainment writer Bill Givens, "Roman Centurions Don't Wear Watches." That, at least, is the title of his compendium of movie flubs, alluding to the centurion in "Spartacus" who can be spotted sporting a Rolex.

As the book underlines, timepieces are a rich source of cinematic gaffes, including wristwatches that appear and disappear within scenes, and hands that point to the wrong time.

Still, publicity, good or bad, is better than none; which is why the elite watch brands jostle to have their products show up on screen, and auction houses are loading premiums onto watches worn in movies; Antiquorum, the specialist watch auction house, has lined up three worn by "James Bond" actors for its Omega sale starting Saturday.

Despite their size, watches do not always pass unnoticed on screen. In fact, timepieces can play key supporting roles - literally, as in the shot of Harold Lloyd hanging from a clock tower in the 1923 film "Safety Last," one of the most famous images of early cinematography.

Watches are as rich in symbolic complexity as they are in mechanical complications - take the pocket watch melody that charts the action in Sergio Leone's 1965 spaghetti western, "A Few Dollars More," or the Rolex exchanged for loose change by Dustin Hoffman in the 1976 film "Marathon Man."

"A watch can be important on different levels," said Agnès Servenière, a screenwriter and director based in Paris. "Firstly, as part of the screenplay, but also as a way of outlining the personality or social standing of a character."

George Peppard, as the writer Paul Varjak in Blake Edwards's 1961 "Breakfast at Tiffany's," wears his brown leather-strapped wristwatch with the face turned to the underside of his wrist - a costume detail perfected to underscore Varjak's writerly introspection.

In Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" last year, an ostentatious cracked pocket watch, fetishized by the megalomaniac Capitán Vidal (Sergi López), mirrors the brokenness at the core of the captain's grandiose fascist dreams.

Brand names can also play a starring role. James Bond would not be 007 without his timepiece packed with classified capabilities; Rolex, Seiko and Omega - the main watches sported in the Bond films - fit the bill as believable brands for Her Majesty's secret agent.

Steve McQueen's wealthy sophisticate in Norman Jewison's 1968 action movie, "The Thomas Crown Affair," would ring less true with a shoddy timepiece. A gold Patek Philippe pocket watch, a Jaeger LeCoultre Memovox and a Cartier tank wristwatch help to define his character's style.

In Quentin Tarantino's 2004 movie "Kill Bill 2," Beatrix Kiddo, the vengeful killer played by Uma Thurman, uses a fake Rolex to time her pregnancy test - neatly reflecting the pastiche elements of the film, where Kiddo is the female antithesis of the suave, Bond-style, Rolex-wearing licensed killer. As one forum member on Fratellowatches.com suggests: "It's a brilliant joke; a cheap, Chinese, fake Rolex in a fake of a cheap Chinese action flick."

Sometimes product placement counts for more than the director's art. Omega built a campaign around the release of last year's "Casino Royale," with Daniel Craig as Bond sporting an Omega Seamaster Professional and Seamaster Planet Ocean both on screen and in the company's advertising campaign. For good measure the brand even issued a limited edition Seamaster to tie in with the release of the film.

Michael Mann's 2006 feature film, "Miami Vice," also struck critics as a product placement junket, with Jamie Foxx's hard-boiled detective flashing various IWC chronographs throughout the film, and IWC producing a 50-piece limited edition "Miami Vice" watch in conjunction with the release.

Still, for watch aficionados even product placement may be acceptable, so long as the watch fits the film. "It doesn't really bother me at all," said Edward Heliosz, a forensic crime scene officer from Melbourne, who set up his own Web site - http://members.optushome.com.au/heliosz/ - in 1999 to list watch appearances in movies. "I like wristwatches, so seeing them onscreen gives me some sort of enjoyment, and if they're part of the plot, even better."

Judging by the number of sites, blog postings and online forums devoted to watches in films, Heliosz is not alone. "The movie sucked, but the watch didn't," wrote a forum member at Lussori.com, the Web site of a luxury jewelry and watch store, in a critique of "Miami Vice."

Placements can backfire: If the Omega Speedmaster worn by the actor-astronauts in the 1995 space thriller "Apollo 13" (and by the real-life Apollo 13 crew) might encourage fans to buy that brand, Heliosz warned that the reverse holds true as well. "I've never been a fan of Panerai, and it only confirmed this with me in such films as 'Daylight' and 'Eraser,' " he said, referring to 1996 action flicks starring, respectively, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

ThewatchProfessionals.com

Our private eye - Lugano

Today large companies have to invest the money that they used on conventional advertising campaigns into the product itself. Our theory, the CTP strategy (Communication through product) mentioned below, underlines the importance to improve the USP of a product through investing in its design and innovation. The product thereupon speaks for itself and hence has no need to be communicated through conventional ATL advertising as before.
The consumer of today’s world is better informed than ever due mainly to the Internet. He is willing to pay a premium for a product but only if it communicates lifestyle to him. How can we achieve this? What are the rules to obey to get a positive result? I would like to explain this to you through an example of the watch industry.
10 years ago I created a watch-brand called Ikepod. By picking one of the most en vogue designer at that time, Marc Newson, I differentiated the looks of the product from what was available in timepieces on the markets. Combining traditional Swiss mechanical watch making with avant-garde design was the key of my success. Design for me is form and function. If it only becomes form like in the 80’s and there is no function, it equals art and has nothing to do with design anymore. If instead it has function as well, as shows off an outstanding design, success is just around the corner.
The most important lesson I drew from the focus on the product design in the above example was that you have to be very precise in your briefing in order to develop a consistant brand strategy.
It should not be the designer who creates a product that he wants but is should be a team of market researchers from your company telling the designer what the market wants and then accordingly the designer will use his talent to interpret your briefing.
Through the different looks, its innovative mechanical functions and its coherent CI, Ikepod watches became known in the markets within a few months. We would never have been able to pay for all the free editorials and PR that we received. The so called brand ambassadors (movie stars, pop stars, etc..) bought the product at our retailers without us even being aware. We did not have to pay them anything for endorsing our product. I even recall to have received a phone call from Elton John’s manager asking me to allow them to use our watches for the conventional ATL - TV advertising of the Royal Mail and they did buy watches for this! Suddenly the Ikepod brand started to become a trendsetter.
In the watch industry there are a few big companies that also derived part or all of their success due to focusing on the product design.

What would Audemars Piguet be today without The Royal Oak watch-lines designed by Gerald Genta. How would the sales have developed for Jaeger-le-Coultre without their Reverso model? How would Patek’s image be without introducing the Nautilus or Aquanaut designed by the same Genta?
These are just a few examples that show you that if you let the product speak, through its design and innovation, you can save millions on conventional ATL advertising.
Here again are the main ingredients that I consider necessary to succeed with a CTP strategy:

- Importance of an exact briefing: Firstly analyse your markets and find out who your main brand ambassadors are (clients, retailers, distributors?). Listen to their needs before you even start creating a new product
- Choose at least two good industrial designers that know material properties as well as modern production technologies. This way you do not risk to be dependant on just one designer.
- Do not be afraid to spend money on the design to achieve as many USP’s for your product as possible. You can recover this investment entirely through the premium price of your product.
- Develop a coherent brand CI and a consistent product strategy. Spend money on creating or improving your corporate identity(logo, graphics, catalogues, Internet site).

You will in a short time see that the investment is much less than in conventional ATL advertising and the results will be more effective. By communicating through product you reinforce your brand and you create a lasting value. Some of your products may even write “design-history” and generations later people will still remember your brand because of them.