Tiffany® is suing eBay for aiding trademark infringement. Tiffany® claims 73% of "Tiffany" jewelry sold on eBay last year was counterfeit and asks for profits eBay made off counterfeit products or a lump sum per type.
Do we really want eBay to have to be an inspector of everything it helps to sell? Responsibility for infrigement (and most profit from it) is on the individual sellers primarily, and the case is clear against them. eBay's responsibility must be based on some theory of negligence, but it seems the duty of inspection is best delegated to the buyer, who is well aware of the risks of buying on eBay. Should eBay be able to pick out all fakes? Or just really bad ones?
Update: This article is a good analysis of the controversey.
Tiffany® is a registered trademark of Tiffany and Co., New York.