A federal appeals court has thrown out a ruling that Costco Wholesale Corp. must pay Tiffany & Co. $21 million for trademark infringement and trademark counterfeiting.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan sent the case back to a lower court for a new trial, Business Insider reports. It said a jury should decide the issue, which has been in litigation for seven years.
“We are disappointed in the Court’s ruling, which finds that a jury, rather than the judge, should have decided the question of liability in the first trial,” said Leigh Harlan, Tiffany & Co. senior vice president, secretary and general counsel, in a press release. “We continue to believe that the District Court was correct in its findings, and that the jury’s finding on damages, which resulted in a $21 million award for Tiffany & Co., is a clear indicator of the strength of the Tiffany brand, and of the jury’s outrage over Costco’s actions. We have no qualms about trying this case again, and remain confident that a jury will find counterfeiting and infringement upon retrial, just as the District Court judge originally ruled.”
Tiffany has claimed that Costco was touting rings as “Tiffany” when they were not. Costco defended itself by asserting that “Tiffany” is a generic term for a type of setting.
In 2015, a judge found Costco liable for trademark infringement and trademark counterfeiting.
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