Turkey Imposes Liability on Hosting Providers for Online Sales of Counterfeits

In a landmark trademark infringement decision, the Turkish Supreme Court¹ has ruled that hosting providers are liable for trademark violations in connection with the online sale of counterfeit products.

Background

In response to the online sale of allegedly counterfeit products, a cosmetics company sued a Turkish auction website for trademark infringement from the sale of counterfeit products through the site. The hosting provider asserted that it was not liable as it cannot test the products, and the site is merely an intermediary platform providing a safe payment environment for users. The trial court agreed, ruling that the hosting provider ...