Good news from across the pond - the European Union's top court
ruled on Tuesday, December 6 that luxury product manufacturers can
prevent their brands from being sold on Amazon, EBAY or other web
platforms in order to protect their brand and safeguard their
exclusivity provided the company does not discriminate among retailers,
reports The Wall Street Journal.
The
ruling involved a case brought by cosmetic manufacturer Coty against a
German retailer that was selling Coty brands Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs
and Cloe on Amazon. Coty claimed those online sales violated its
contract provision that barred retailers from selling through third
parties.
The
court ruled that "The quality of luxury goods is not simply the result
of their material characteristics, but also of the allure and
prestigious image which bestows on them an aura of luxury. That aura is
an essential aspect of those goods in that it thus enables consumers to
distinguish them from other similar goods."
The European Court decision is comparable to the Leegin
Creative Leather Products decision that ruled a manufacturer can set
minimum pricing policies for its products and can pull lines from
companies that violate those policies.
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