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Last year, LVMH succesfully sued eBay for failing to police counterfeit sellers.

Now they, and more specifically Louis Vuitton, have sued Google for allegedly courting advertisers with the search word "Vuitton". Stores, whether they sell counterfeit product or not, pay Google to be the first link on the page post-search which is why things like Bergdorf and Nordstrom are above the actual Phillip Lim site when you search his name.

It's true that a year ago, or the last time we remember Googling Louis Vuitton, every possible fake in cyber existence popped up. The highlighted clutter is gone now (probably because they're in court), making it much easier for the consumer to find the legitimate Vuitton sites. (Though the third search down still boasts "Designer Handbag Cloning Master for the past six years.")

But Google says that they get their money after the ad link is clicked and since it's the searcher who chooses which link to follow, they're not doing anything wrong.

If LVMH wins, Google's inability to sell brand names to advertisers means a hefty chunk of their profit is gone. And even if they don't win, we can't imagine Louis Vuitton's war against those who aid and abet counterfeiters will end in the near future.

Fashionista

Not a fan.

thats so stupid !

Tsk tsk.

That's ridiculous. Though it makes me wonder what other Fashionising members think the outcome will be?

Being in a French court I think they'll find favour with LVMH over Google.

Like they did with eBay, another silly lawsuit.

Funnily enough I still get adverts pertaining to fake bags.

It will be a never ending process that's for sure.

The case against ebay I understood. This one against google is rediculous. They are a search engine, they dont sell nor encourage sales so it is just rediculous.