New Balance wins record China trademark award; BBC, August 24, 2017

BBC; New Balance wins record China trademark award

"A Chinese court awarded the US sportswear firm more than 10 million yuan (£1.2m; $1.5m).

Lawyers believe it to be the highest award to a foreign company in a trademark dispute in China.

The country has been tightening its laws to tackle the widespread problem of trademark abuse."

Costco made $3.7 million selling ‘Tiffany’ rings. Now it must pay $19 million to the real Tiffany.; Washington Post, August 15, 2017

Travis M. Andrews, Washington Post; Costco made $3.7 million selling ‘Tiffany’ rings. Now it must pay $19 million to the real Tiffany.

"Instead, Costco argued that “Tiffany” is a commonly used, generic term to describe a particular type of ring setting.

Tiffany was founded in 1837 and quickly became one of the world’s leading jewelers. One of its early achievements was inventing a new type of ring setting in 1886. In an attempt to show more of the gem, it set the stone in a metal claw extending from the ring’s band. Before this, diamonds were set in a full shallow cup of metal, obscuring most of the stone, according to Forbes.

The setting was extremely successful and immediately attracted imitators. By now, as Forbes wrote, “the term ‘Tiffany setting’ has reached Kleenex status — it’s now used colloquially throughout the jewelry industry to describe any multi-pronged solitaire setting, Tiffany or no.”

Swain wrote Costco “provided credible evidence” of the practice of using the terms “Tiffany setting” and “Tiffany style” generically throughout the jewelry industry.

The problem is Costco only used the word “Tiffany” when describing the rings in its signage, suggesting they were made by the jeweler rather than an imitation of its famous design."