{"id":5376,"date":"2017-08-27T14:53:31","date_gmt":"2017-08-27T14:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ftcguardian.com\/articles\/?p=5376"},"modified":"2017-08-27T15:28:32","modified_gmt":"2017-08-27T15:28:32","slug":"judge-costco-must-pay-tiffany-19-4-million-for-advertising-knock-off-rings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ftcguardian.com\/articles\/judge-costco-must-pay-tiffany-19-4-million-for-advertising-knock-off-rings\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge: Costco must pay Tiffany $19.4 million for advertising knock-off rings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judge: Costco must pay Tiffany $19.4 million for advertising knock-off rings<\/h1>\n

By\u00a0Kevin McCoy<\/a><\/p>\n

Tiffany has beaten\u00a0Costco to the tune of at least $19.4 million in a trademark infringement battle\u00a0over alleged knock-off\u00a0rings that pitted\u00a0the luxury jeweler against the membership warehouse giant.<\/p>\n

Costco must pay the financial damages for its years-long practice of selling rings with signs that said “Tiffany” without any modifiers to indicate\u00a0the items were not made by the world-famed New York City\u00a0jewelry company, a \u00a0judge ruled Monday.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In all, Costco owes Tiffany $11.1 million, three times the estimated profit the Issaquah, Wa.-based company made on sales of the rings, U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain wrote in a 17-page decision.\u00a0She also ordered Costco to pay $8.25 million in legal damages\u00a0and issued a permanent injunction that bars the company from using the Tiffany name.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Tiffany initially sued Costco in a Valentines Day 2013 trademark infringement and counterfeiting lawsuit. The lawsuit charged that a consumer shopping in Costco's Huntington Beach, Calif., warehouse complained\u00a0that “Costco was offering for sale what were promoted on in-store signs as Tiffany diamond engagement rings.”<\/p>\n

Read full article and learn more about Trademark Infringement here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s How To Make Sure You,\u00a0Your Business & Website Is FTC Compliant<\/h2>\n

By now it should be clear how important it is for you to be FTC compliant. But how can you do that without spending $7,500-$8,000 or more on Internet Attorneys?<\/p>\n

Smart business owners around the world are doing it with the help of FTC Guardian.<\/p>\n

FTC Guardian is a service that is 100% focused on helping to keep you get and stay FTC compliant and fully protected.\u00a0And right now, we are offering a free training to give you the knowledge, information, and guidance that you need to stay out of trouble with the Federal Trade Commission.<\/a><\/p>\n

Free Compliance Workshop: Join Chip Cooper, Esq., the #1 FTC Compliance trainer in the World, for a one-of-kind, completely free online compliance workshop. Workshops fill up quickly, so register now.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Here are some of the things you\u2019ll discover on the training:<\/p>\n