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The Saga of Omega v. Costco Wholesale Corp.

By Matthew Siegal and Binni Shah

In an effort to control after-market (gray market) sales of its Swiss-made watches, Omega places a U.S. copyrighted design (“the Omega Globe Design”) on the backside of its watch cases. Omega hoped doing so would let it control third-party imports to the United States by suing the unauthorized seller for copyright infringement. More than seven years after the Omega S.A. v. Costco Wholesale Corp. case began, there has been no trial and the case is now back at the Ninth Circuit for a second time.

Omega makes its watches in Switzerland and distributes them globally through a network of authorized distributors and retailers. The Omega Globe Design was three millimeters in size and was inscribed on the backside of certain of Omega's watches. Costco obtained the watches outside the United States where Omega had originally sold them to authorized distributors. Costco then sells these gray market watches in the United States at a significant discount.

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