WebProNews

Shoe retailer Steve Madden has filed a lawsuit against eBay over the alleged sale of counterfeit watches on the auction site.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan Tuesday, claimed eBay has failed to remove counterfeit watches from the site bearing the Steve Madden brand name. The suit accuses eBay of trademark infringement.

"The issue with such advertising and sales of such watches is the fact that neither Madden nor Madden subsidiaries has ever in the history of its business ever had for sale watches with any Madden name either through their own distribution (or) through licensing," the lawsuit said.

eBay's Deputy General Counsel, Mary Huser said the company "leads the industry in innovative solutions to fight the sale of counterfeit items."

Huser pointed to a case last year in New York involving Tiffany and eBay in which the judge ruled, "Tiffany has failed to demonstrate that eBay knowingly encouraged others to dilute Tiffany's trademarks." Tiffany is appealing that case.

"Over 99.85 percent of goods sold on eBay have no suspicion of counterfeit," Huser said and that the company works with owners to quickly remove counterfeit items.

A number of similar suits have been brought against eBay. Last year a French court ordered eBay to pay $61 million to luxury goods designer LVMH for allowing counterfeit merchandise to be sold on the site. eBay is appealing that case.