A Paris court on Monday ordered online auction giant eBay to pay French luxury behemoth LVMH $2.5 million in damages for failing to prevent the sale of its luxury perfumes and cosmetics on its Web site.

The decision comes after a June 2008 court order asked the online auction site to remove all perfume postings, in part of a $63 million verdict. That order said eBay’s safeguards and penalties for intellectual property rights infringements by the auction site's users were insufficient in preventing the trade in counterfeit goods on the site and amounted to negligence.

The French conglomerate that owns a portfolio of 60 luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy, and Marc Jacobs, claimed that the sale of its cosmetic products on the site was illegal because they were not sold by authorized resellers. Selective distribution channels are one of the ways luxury brands control their image.

Despite implementing software to filter its listings in order to prevent users from accessing LVMH-branded items, more than 1,300 LVMH cosmetic products have been posted on the auction site since the 2008 injunction was issued.

Alex Von Schiermeister, director of eBay Europe, said in a statement that the fine was disproportionate in respect to the steps eBay has taken since the injunction.

eBay is appealing the verdict.