EBay has won a Paris court case brought against it by cosmetics giant L’Oréal over counterfeit perfumes on eBay’s website.

The court found in favour of the internet auction site saying that it was not liable for the fake products and that it had met its obligations to combat counterfeits.

L’Oréal sued eBay in France and four other countries. It claimed that the site profits from sales of fakes.

EBay head of trust and safety in the UK and Ireland Richard Ambrose said: “This is a clear legal victory for eBay and an important victory for consumers. Today, 99 per cent of all items listed on eBay are genuine products and we continue to work hard to ensure eBay is a safe and trusted place to shop.”

He commented: “Ongoing dialogue and collaboration, rather than litigation, is the only way to effectively identify and remove any counterfeit items which do appear on our site.’’

EBay has lost out in French court before and was ordered to pay compensation to Hermes International and LVMH Moet Hennessy and Louis Vuitton.

In August a court in Belgium has dismissed all claims bought by L’Oréal against eBay over the online sale of counterfeit products bearing its name.