Luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. is currently suing online auction site eBay for failing to stop the sale of counterfeit Tiffany jewelry on its website.

In its opening statements, eBay’s lawyer Bruce Rich argued that eBay takes the threat of counterfeit goods seriously.

The company spends $10 million a year on its anticounterfeiting efforts, Mr. Rich said. He noted that eBay works with trademark holders through its Verified Rights Owner Program to report and take down listings for counterfeit items.

“There’s an enormous effort to root it out and eBay is getting better all the time,” Mr. Rich said.

Mr. Rich said hundreds of thousands of sellers have been suspended after reports of counterfeit sales and a number have been banned permanently.