Reply With QuoteVery interesting. And glad omega lost!
In a legal battle lasting from 2004, Omega finally lost their case against Costco for copyright infringement over the sale of grey-market watches. I can't imagine what the legal costs would be for an eleven year battle.
http://forums.timezone.com/index.php...49#msg_6950489
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Very interesting. And glad omega lost!
Omega argues that its anti-competitive motives are irrelevant to the issue of copyright misuse. According to Omega, our inquiry should instead focus on the copyright holder’s objective conduct or use. But Omega’s semantic hairsplitting is unpersuasive.http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastor...0/11-57137.pdfThe undisputed record shows that before this lawsuit consumers were able to a buy a genuine Omega Seamaster watch from Costco for 35% less than Omega’s suggested retail price. This is no longer the case. Thus, at least one consequence of Omega’s lawsuit has been a reduction of intrabrand price competition for uncopyrightable Omega watches in the United States.
Its a good result for Aston Martin and Maserati...
every lawyer should have one or two...
Did they?Originally Posted by 893bet
'The undisputed record shows that before this lawsuit consumers were able to a buy a genuine Omega Seamaster watch from Costco for 35% less than Omega’s suggested retail price. This is no longer the case. Thus, at least one consequence of Omega’s lawsuit has been a reduction of intrabrand price competition for uncopyrightable Omega watches in the United States. '
$400,000 by looks of it (Costco's attorney fees paid by Omega). Rather less than I would have expected, still a major bite out of the profits of retailing 117 Seamasters at a discounted price!
Well they didn't achieve what it appeared they wanted (to stop cost co selling) but perhaps that was never the aim.
If Costco were selling them for 35% off RRP, what kind of a price did they get when the batch changed hands 2 times after it arrived to the distributor in the USA?
Well you can more than double that when you take their own costs into account. Still relatively modest I'd say, having had some experience on the wrong end of this kind of thing.
Tataaaa!!
Ofcourse they want a huge chain to keep selling their product.
Again it is obvious to all informed watch enthusiasts that the luxury branded watches have ginormous .... added brand value.
That goose would stop laying those golden eggs if the general public gets made aware by blanket 35% price cuts on a.o. Omega's list prices: First for the other sellers and ultimately for them.
Not really, as Omega footed the bill, so it cost Costco nothing
The Costco in Southampton has a few Rolex, Panerai and so on, they all look priced remarkably close to RRP.
I guess it does give them access to a different market, one difficult to reach selling via their normal channels.
Now someone needs to take on Rolex USA, which managed to convince the US legal system a few years ago that it had absolutely no connection with Rolex SA and therefore is able to evade normal American free market rules (no Rolex in Costco I'll wager).
Shame, they could have used that money for developing a new LTD edition Speedy Pro of sorts........:)
Daddel.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
Which made the question about them using 'Rolex' rather interesting.
Does it end there? The decision makes it clear that "Omega had other available remedies." And decided against them because:
"...Omega improvidently decided to sue Costco for copyright infringement. By doing so, Omega misused the Congressionally limited power of copyright protection to address a problem better left for other avenues of relief."
and
"Omega misused its copyright by engraving the Globe Design on the underside of its watches, and attempting to use copyright law to eliminate intrabrand competition from Costco in the retail watch market."
Will they now try those "other available remedies"?
I doubt they ever touched Omega's USA distribution. More likely Costco bought them at massive discount from ADs outside of of the USA.
Correct...with a minor variation...as is detailed in the link that Eddie gave:
",,,First, Omega sold the watches to authorized foreign distributors. Next, unidentified third parties purchased the watches and sold them to ENE Limited, a New York company. Costco purchased the watches from ENE Limited. Costco then sold 43 of those watches to its members in California. Omega undoubtedly authorized the initial sale of the watches but did not approve the importation of the watches into the United States or Costco's later sale of the watches..."
Hope they don't see the Blancpains down at my local Lidl.
I dare say both companies have well manned, full time legal departments so in effect it cost them nothing.
Actually, not quite.
1) No, they do not want a big chain store selling their watches.
The thing about luxury goods is exclusivity. Every Tom, Dick and Harry cannot have access to luxury goods, (or at least it cannot appear that way). This is why branded boutiques are all the rage in the watch marketing world.
Costco is really just a step or two above Wal-Mart, do you thing Omega wants Wal-Mart selling their watches? It is a bigger outlet than Costco. Seiko won't even let Wal-Mart sell their lowest end models at Wal-Mart.
2) Not quite true. The public already knows there is a huge mark-up.
These, as you so often state are luxury goods, and perfect examples of Veblen goods, with a negative price elasticity of demand; making a watch more expensive can increase its perceived value as a luxury good to such an extent that sales can go up, rather than down. The opposite is also true, if the price drops, so do sales.
Thanks!
Good points.
My Costco sells Rolex, but I still can't "import" used watches into the USA. RUSA can go F themselves.
oh no!
in 2009 I was in front of a 36mm railmaster in costco for 1000 bucks and did not bbuy it.
I'm such a sod.
Especially point 2: The public already knows there is a huge mark-up.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
You almost invariably involve external counsel in big ticket matters be they transactional or contentious so it will cost.
Going great this
So no need to pretend that the tangible has anything to do with the price.
So no need for you to pretend we need to be told it.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Quite possibly.
They were awarded costs of US$400k - which does not always directly relate to actual costs. Maybe it is closer in the US but in the UK there can be quite wide differences - and Omega may well have spent considerably more taking the action than someone simply looking to defend a position.
It's just a matter of time...
So, paid for out of the petty cash jar under the sink in Omegas' brew room then - and a nice result for them regarding Costcos' pricing...
No need to take away the purpose of his existence 😄
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