Tiffany vs. Costco: Lawsuit

February 16, 2013 — Audrey Hepburn, bait-and-switch, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Brittany, copyright, Costco, customer, Economy, engagement, Engagement ring, Fashion News, investigation, jewelry, law, laws, Lawsuit, lie, lies, loyal, Market News, November, off-price, ring, Tiffany, Tiffany & Co, Tiffany Yellow Diamond, trademark, Trademark infringement, Valentine's Day, warehouse

This Valentine’s Day, Tiffany & Co. gifted Costco with a lawsuit for trademark infringement. As we all know, Tiffany jewelry has a certain prestige; so naturally, a loyal customer was upset when they found out that an off-price warehouse store was claiming to sell Tiffany diamond engagement rings, and alerted Tiffany in November of last year. However, while the salespeople and in-store signage were promoting the rings as Tiffany, the online store promotes it as “the Audrey collection,” presumably to get customers to think of Audrey Hepburn and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Considering that “Tiffany has never sold nor would it ever sell its fine jewelry through an off-price warehouse retailer like Costco,” not only has Costco broken trademark laws, but it has lied to its own customers in a move akin to bait-and-switch. Upon further investigation, it has come to light that Costco has been claiming to sell different styles of Tiffany rings at discount prices for many years. If you go to the online stores of both companies, you’ll find that the prices are about the same, and in some cases even cheaper through Tiffany, so you may as well just buy the real thing. Tiffany is demanding all profits from the sale of these counterfeit rings as reparation for besmirchment of the Tiffany brand. On the up side, Costco has since stopped marketing rings using the Tiffany brand.

Costco’s counterfeit Tiffany engagment ring.
Priced between $13,299.99 and $62,999.99 depending on cwt, cut, clarity, and color grade.

Ladies and gentlemen, you may be asking yourselves, “How do I know if I’ve been tricked into buying fake Tiffany jewelry?” Well, if you bought  it through Costco it’s definitely fake, otherwise, Tiffany only sells through its own retail stores in an attempt to preserve its good name. If anyone reading this has mistakenly purchased or received a Costco brand knock-off “Tiffany” engagement ring, I urge you to return it and use that money to purchase an authentic Tiffany engagement ring. Gentlemen, your fiancée will be impressed and enchanted.

~Brittany B.

For more information, consult these sources:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100464386

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/14/ny-tiffany-idUSnBw2V6X8Ka+12a+BSW20130214

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/nyregion/a-tiffany-at-costco-not-now-or-ever-tiffany-lawsuit-says.html?_r=0