TIF - $21 Million Judgment Against Costco for Fake Tiffany Rings Overturned
A multimillion-dollar judgement against Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) arising from a trademark infringement and counterfeiting lawsuit has been quashed on appeal. On Monday, a federal appeals court in Manhattan overturned the $21 million judgment previously awarded in Tiffany's (NYSE: TIF) favor, on the grounds that the judge made the ruling improperly.
The decision was 3-0, and it was based on the appeals court's finding that "reasonable" jurors could figure out that "Tiffany" was not being unfairly appropriated. They could surmise, the ruling stated, that the appellation "is not only a brand name, but also a widely recognized descriptive term for a particular style of pronged ring setting."
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