Tiffany & Co. has sued Costco Wholesale Corp. for allegedly selling counterfeit diamond engagement rings bearing the luxury retailer's name, Reuters reported.The trademark lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, calls on Costco to give up the profit it incurred from the ring sales, in addition to $3 million for infringement, according to Reuters.
Luxury retailers often sue to stop sales of imitation products that they say hinder their own revenue streams and hurt customers' views of their business.
"Costco knew what it was doing when it used the Tiffany trademark to sell rings that had nothing to do with Tiffany," Jeffrey Mitchell, a lawyer for Tiffany, told The Associated Press in a statement. "This is not the kind of behavior people expect from a company like Costco, and this case will shed a much needed light on this outrageous behavior."
The Associated Press could not immediately reach a representative for Costco Wholesale Corp. in Issaquah, Wash. for comment.
The suit came about after a Costco customer in Huntington Beach, Calif. complained to Tiffany that she saw the wholesale chain offering for sale what were promoted on in-store signs as Tiffany engagement rings, Reuters reported.
Tiffany immediately launched an investigation, The Associated Press reported, finding that Costco has been selling different types of rings for many years identified as Tiffany rings, without letting the luxury company know. Tiffany told The Associated Press that Costco had led customers to believe they were buying authentic Tiffany products at discounted prices.
The lawsuit also indicated that, as alleged by Tiffany, Costco was not using the Tiffany trademarks online for the same products at the same time, to avoid detection, Reuters reported.
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