Liability of ISPs for Trademark Infringement

The European Court has indicated that internet service providers (ISPs) will lose the benefit of the exemption from liability for intermediaries under the E-Commerce Directive if they take an active role in relation to offers of trade-mark-infringing goods placed on their sites (such as assisting in matters of presentation or promotion) which allows them to have knowledge or control of the data that they are storing. Injunctions against ISPs, in such circumstances, could be aimed at the prevention of future infringements as well as the cessation of ongoing infringement.