Costco Has to Pay $19 Million After Selling 2,500 Fake Tiffany & Co. Rings - TIME

Costco Has to Pay $19 Million After Selling 2,500 Fake Tiffany & Co. Rings

Katie Reilly

Aug 16, 2017

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, 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.

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. "This was not a case about counterfeiting in the common understanding of that word – Costco was not selling imitation Tiffany & Co. rings."

Warren Buffett Took a Stake in This Company and Its Value Soared $1 Billion Overnight - TIME Business

Warren Buffett Took a Stake in This Company and Its Value Soared $1 Billion Overnight

Lucinda Shen

A vote of confidence from Berkshire Hathaway helped send the market value of a recently down-in-the-dumps stock up by $1 billion overnight.

On Monday, behemoth helmed by Warren Buffett revealed a new 2% stake in the lender and store credit card issuer Synchrony. That pushed shares of the company up 4%, giving it a market capitalization of about $25.4 billion by midday trading on Tuesday.

Synchrony Financial, which spun off from GE roughly two years ago, has been far from a Wall Street darling. While the company's stock soared along with its banking peers following the election of President Donald Trump in November, its 2017 has been less forgiving. In the last seven months, Synchrony shares have shed about 15% as investors lost confidence in some Trump campaign promises — and began to worry about Synchrony's volume of bad loans. This even as the S&P 500 has continued its rise during that same period, jumping 10% in the first seven months of the year as tech stocks led a market rally.

But jumping on an underperforming stock would suit Buffett's investing philosophy, be "greedy when others are fearful." And Synchrony certainly spooked investors after signaling that it was setting aside more than expected to cover losses from borrowers failing to pay loans in the first quarter. Wall Street worried that it was a sign credit card companies were loosening standards and making loans to borrowers that couldn't afford it.

Still, that lackluster earnings report may have provided a buying opportunity for investors who don't think consumer credit will continue to weaken. Berkshire Hathaway took on a stake of 17.5 million shares, worth about $540 million by midday trading. And by one metric, Berkshire bought Synchrony cheap. While the S&P 500 has a price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of about 22 today, and Synchrony's peers claim a PE ratio of 16, Synchrony's investors currently pay only about $12 for $1 of earnings.Separately, Berkshire Hathaway also sold its stake in Synchrony's former parent, GE, in the second quarter. Berkshire also added to its of Bank of New York Mellon, now worth $2.6 billion; General Motors, a stake now worth $2.1 billion; and Apple, a stake worth $18.8 billion.

Charlottesville attack: What, where and who? - Al Jazeera

Charlottesville attack: What, where and who?

A man rammed a car into anti-white supremacist protesters in Virginia. Here is what happened.

CHARLOTTESVILLE

Where?

Who?

Reactions

What's next?

In Charlottesville on Saturday, rallygoers and counterdemonstrators clashed, and a car ploughed into the crowd. Here is what we know.

What happened and when?

A "Unite the Right" rally was planned for Saturday, August 12 to protest against the removal of a statue of Confederate icon General Robert E Lee.

Described as one of the largest white supremacist events in recent US history, it was organised by Jason Kessler, a former journalist and a member of the Proud Boys, an ultra-nationalist group.

The day before, on Friday, marchers descended on the University of Virginia carrying torches and yelling slogans "white lives matter" and "blood and soil".

Protesters gathered again on Saturday, and clashed with counter-demonstrators.

At 11:28am (15:35 GMT) a local state of emergency was declared by the City of Charlottesville and the County of Albemarle.

At 1:42pm (17:42 GMT) a speeding car rammed into counter-demonstrators, through a three-vehicle crash.

The speeding car, a Dodge Challenger, hit another sedan, which in turn pushed a minivan in front of it.

The speeding car fled the scene but was soon located and stopped by police.

Later in the afternoon, a police helicopter crashed while en route to the rally, though officials did not elaborate on the details.

Where did it happen?

This took place in Charlottesville, a university town of 46,000 people, in the state of Virginia in the United States.

Charlottesville has become a focal point of the resurgent white supremacist movement after officials there voted to take down a statue of the Confederate General Robert E Lee.

Who was behind it?

The driver of the car, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr was arrested shortly after the incident and was charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count of hit-and-run.

In connection with the events at Charlottesville today, police made three more arrests.

21-year-old Troy Dunigan and charged him with disorderly conduct.

21-year-old J acob L. Smith was also arrested and charged with misdemeanour assault and battery.

44-year-old James M. O'Brien was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed gun.

How many casualties?

Hit by the car ramming, 32-year-old Heather Heyer died in hospital.

Lieutenant Cullen and Trooper-Pilot Bates, who were on board the crashed helicopter, died.

35 people were injured at the rally, 19 confirmed by the hospital in Charlottesville.

Is Charlottesville now safe? What is the latest on the ground?

Police intervened after clashes broke out and dispersed the crowd, and Governor McAuliffe declared a state of emergency.

The Governor’s office also urged all members of the community to stay home on Saturday evening.

What are people saying?

On August 12, US President Donald Trump condemned the clashes in Charlottesville in a Twitter post:

We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump

We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!

3:19 AM - Aug 13, 2017

67,203 67,203 Replies 58,461 58,461 Retweets 190,437 190,437 likes

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Senator Bernie Sanders also condemned the clashes and said, "it was a reprehensible display of racism and hatred".

The white nationalist demonstration in #Charlottesville is a reprehensible display of racism and hatred that has no place in our society.

Bernie Sanders ✔ @SenSanders

The white nationalist demonstration in #Charlottesville is a reprehensible display of racism and hatred that has no place in our society.

Senator Cory Gardner a labelled them as "domestic terrorism":

Mr. President - we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism.

Cory Gardner ✔ @SenCoryGardner

Mr. President - we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism.

And former US President Barack Obama wrote:

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..."

Barack Obama ✔ @BarackObama

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..."

On Tuesday, Donald Trump declared: "There is blame on both sides" for the deadly violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Trump's remarks were welcomed by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who tweeted: "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth."

What happened next?

Local state of emergency.

FBI launched its own investigation into the incident.

A fundraising campaign for the family of a woman killed in a car-ramming attack in the US town of Charlottesville has raised tens of thousands of dollars.

A "Moment of Unity" was held in Charlottesville, giving citizens a chance to offer prayers and support for the victims.

Judge Robert Downer said during a bail hearing on Monday, August 14, that he would appoint a lawyer for James Alex Fields Jr.

The next scheduled court hearing is on August 25, though Fields' attorney could request a bond hearing before then.

A rally against racism took place in North Carolina, and a Confederate statue was toppled.