The Commercial Court in Paris has supported a ruling preventing French consumers from the buying or selling of some brands of perfumes or cosmetics on the internet.

The brands are marketed by luxury goods group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) and include Christian Dior, Guerlain and Givenchy, and the court recently fined auction site eBay £1.5 million for allowing French consumers to buy the LVMH products at lower prices than they could buy in France.

EBay are appealing to the French High Courts over the ruling, which they say is restrictive and anti-competitive, and the case is due to be heard next May. The chief executive of LVMH is Bernard Arnault.