--- title: Costco Has to Pay $19 Million After Selling 2,500 Fake Tiffany & Co. Rings description: Costco owes Tiffany & Co. more than $19 million after selling generic diamond rings falsely advertised as "Tiffany" rings, a judge ruled authors: - name: Katie Reilly url: https://money.com/author/katie-reilly/ at_money_since: 2017 articles: 13 covers: - Business - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Lifestyle - Loans - Retirement - Taxes social: - https://x.com/katiemacreilly former_staff: true published: '2017-08-16T00:51:59.000Z' modified: '2017-08-16T00:51:59.000Z' section: Business tags: - Costco - onetime - Retail - Tiffany word_count: 213 canonical: https://money.com/costco-tiffany-lawsuit-diamond-rings/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![THE PLAYERS Championship - Preview Day 3](https://img.money.com/2017/08/tiffany-costco-lawsuit-rings.jpg) *Tiffany & Co. boxes pictured at THE PLAYERS Championship on May 10, 2017, in Ponte Vedra Beach.* Costco owes Tiffany & Co. more than $19 million after selling generic diamond rings falsely advertised as "Tiffany" rings, a judge ruled Monday. Costco made $3.7 million selling 2,500 diamond rings falsely identified as "Tiffany," [the Washington *Post* reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/15/costco-made-3-7-million-selling-tiffany-rings-court-says-and-now-must-fork-over-19-million-to-the-real-tiffany/?utm_term=.273329336ee6), citing a 2015 verdict. Costco argued that the diamond rings had a pronged setting known as "Tiffany," but the jewelry company argued the store's use of the stand-alone name without any modifiers was misleading to customers. U.S. District Judge of the Southern District of New York Laura Taylor Swain ruled Monday that Costco should pay Tiffany $11.1 million to make up for lost profits and $8.25 million in legal damages, the *Post* reported. “Judge Swain’s decision validates the strength of the Tiffany trademark and the value of our brand, and most importantly, sends a clear and powerful message to Costco and others who infringe the Tiffany mark,” Tiffany & Co. said in a [statement to the New York *Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/business/costco-tiffany-rings.html). Costco said it plans to appeal the ruling. "From a purchaser list of approximately 2,500, Tiffany identified fewer than 10 who said that they had misunderstood Costco’s signage," Costco said in a [statement](http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=83830&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2293835). 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