Tiffany & Co. v. Costco Wholesale Corp.

274 F. Supp. 3d 216
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedAugust 14, 2017
DocketNo. 13CV1041-LTS-DCF
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 274 F. Supp. 3d 216 (Tiffany & Co. v. Costco Wholesale Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tiffany & Co. v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 274 F. Supp. 3d 216 (S.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

Memorandum Opinion and Order

LAURA TAYLOR SWAIN, United States District Judge

By Opinion and Order dated September 8, 2015 (“Summary Judgment Opinion,” docket entry no. 175), the Court granted summary judgment in favor of Plaintiffs (collectively, “Tiffany”), holding Costco liable for trademark infringement and trademark counterfeiting under the Lan-ham Act with respect to engagement rings sold under certain signage that referenced the mark “Tiffany” as a standalone term. The recitation of undisputed facts and the conclusions' of law set forth in the Summary Judgment Opinion are incorporated herein by reference. A jury trial on Tiffany’s claims for monetary recovery in the form of profits and statutory damages pursuant to 15 U.S.C. Section 1117 1, and punitive damages pursuant to New York state law, was held from September 19, 2016, to October 5, 2016. The jury rendered unanimous verdicts that Costco’s relevant profits—those derived from sales of rings “using display case signage that included the ‘Tiffany’ mark as a standalone term, not combined with any immediately following modifier such as., ‘setting,’ ‘set’ or ‘style’”—totaled $3,700,000, that such profits are inadequate to compensate Tiffany, that $5,500,000 would be a just award of profits, and that Tiffany is entitled to an award of statutory damages for the same conduct in the amount of $2,000,000 and punitive damages for such conduct in the amount of $8,250,000.

On October'20, 2016, the Court issued an order directing the parties to address whether and to what' extent the 'jury’s verdict should be treated as advisory with [220]*220respect to: (a) the determination of Costco’s relevant profits; (b) whether that profit determination was inadequate or excessive as an amount to be recovered by Tiffany in light of the nature of Costco’s wrongful conduct; and, if so, (c) what amount would be just as an award of profits. The parties were also directed to address: whether there are any “extenuating circumstances” within the meaning of 15 U.S.C. § 1117(b) that preclude the trebling of the profits award; whether and to what extent equitable and injunctive relief ought to be granted; and whether the jury’s verdict is supported by the weight of the evidence and otherwise authorized under the law. (See docket entry no. 387.) The parties’ familiarity with the underlying background of the case and the trial evidence is assumed.

This Memorandum Opinion and Order includes the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law with respect to the issues of Costco’s profits and the appropriate recovery thereof and Tiffany’s entitlement to equitable relief, and addresses the parties’ additional arguments. The Court has considered thoroughly the trial record and all of the parties’ submissions. As explained below, Tiffany is entitled to recover $3.7 million as profits for trademark infringement, trebled, if it does not instead elect to recover statutory damages. Tiffany is also entitled to recover the jury’s punitive damages award of $8.25 million.

I. Whether the Jury Verdict as to Profits is Advisory

In the Summary Judgment Opinion, the Court stated that “[i]t was still an open question in the Second Circuit as to whether the accounting of profits in a trademark infringement action is an equitable or legal remedy.” (S.J. Op. at 36.) In the parties’ post-trial briefing, Costco contends that the jury verdict on the “Accounting of Profits Issues” was rendered on an equitable remedy for which there is no federal right to a jury trial, and that the Court is obligated to make an independent determination as to the accounting of profits. Tiffany, likewise, urges that “regardless of where the Court comes out on the state of the law, Tiffany believes the Court should set out findings of fact that would support the jury’s determinations, whether or not it was advisory on actual profits.” (Tiffany Br. at 3.) Although the Second Circuit has not explicitly ruled on the issue, in Gucci America, Inc. v. Weixing Li, a trademark infringement action under 15 U.S.C. Section 1117(a), the court characterized the accounting of profits sought by the plaintiff as an “equitable remedy.” 768 F.3d 122, 130 (2d Cir. 2014). The Court will treat the jury verdict as to accounting of profits as advisory and make its own findings.

Even when accepting the aid of an advisory jury, the Court must make its own independent findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a). See, e.g., DeFelice v. American Int’l Life Assur., 112 F.3d 61, 65 (2d Cir. 1997) (noting that a trial court using an advisory jury must both make “its own factual findings and conclusions, in reliance upon the advisory jury’s verdict if the court so chooses, and ... explain how it arrived at those findings and conclusions.”) The views of an advisory jury may be “an important part of the data taken into consideration in arriving at the court’s independent conclusion.” Birnbaum v. United States, 436 F.Supp. 967, 988 (E.D.N.Y. 1977).

By way of brief background, in its Summary Judgment Opinion, the Court found that Tiffany had proven its federal and state law claims that, by displaying solitaire diamond rings in Costco stores next to signage that included the word “Tiffany” as a standalone term not combined with an immediately following modi-[221]*221frying word such as “setting,” “set,” or “style” (“Standalone Signage”), Costco infringed Tiffany’s trademark and engaged in unfair competition under state and federal law and that Costco counterfeited the Tiffany trademark under federal law. At trial, the jury was instructed to determine what monetary relief, if any, Tiffany was entitled to recover as a result of Costco’s trademark infringement, unfair competition, and counterfeiting. Among the monetary relief categories was an accounting for profits, as to which the jury was instructed that “Tiffany is entitled to an award of all profits earned by Costco that are attributable to Costco’s misuse of Tiffany’s trademark through infringement and/or counterfeiting from February 14, 2007, to the present time.” (Court Ex. 2 at 15.) The jury was also instructed that it was to determine whether “one sign, which used the word ‘Tiffany’ on one line and the word ‘set’ at the beginning of the following line[,] was a use of ‘Tiffany1 as a standalone term or a use of ‘Tiffany set’ as a combined term in describing the merchandise.” (Id. at 16.)

The Court makes the following additional findings of fact on the basis of its consideration of the entire trial record, including documentary and physical evidence, the testimony, and the demeanor and credibility of the witnesses. Costco has sold rings under signage using “Tiffany” without a following modifier since before 2007: There was no evidence as to when precisely this usage began, nor any credible evidence as to Costco’s reason for using “Tiffany” without a following modifier.

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274 F. Supp. 3d 216, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tiffany-co-v-costco-wholesale-corp-nysd-2017.