Karlsruhe - Germany's highest judicial court on Thursday ruled that the German branch of the Internet auctioneer eBay must try to prevent attempts to sell fake Rolex watches on its website.

The Swiss luxury brand took eBay to court after a number of fake Rolex watches were offered for sale on the website between June 2000 and January 2001.

The court in Karslruhe in south-western Germany said that eBay was obliged to withdraw purported offers of Rolex watches immediately if there was reason to suspect that they were counterfeit, or if it was alerted to the fact by Rolex.

"The defendant is obliged to take all reasonable and technically possible steps to ensure that fake Rolex watches are not put on auction on its site," the court added.

A spokesperson for eBay in Germany, Maike Fuest, said: "We have for a long time been trying to spot fakes and we are constantly improving our methods of doing so."

"It is our own interest to keep our site counterfeit-free," she added.

The starting price for genuine second-hand Rolex watches offered on eBay is around €1 000 (about R9 500).