Supreme court rules in favor of comsumers!!!

[dogguru]

This will make world wide pricing very interesting . It should also lower prices and make more parts available .


http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...239_story.html

[Grissom]

Appears that this would now allow folks like Costco to purchase luxury watches outside the US, and legally resell them in the US, and would appear to overturn/negate the Omega/Costco ruling making such importation and sale illegal, which also related to copyright infringement, from this type of importation. This ruling thus validates the "first sale" rule, as it specifically relates to good produced overseas for sale overseas.

The court was essentially reviewing five words in the federal Copyright Act: “lawfully made under this title.” Some lower courts and the Obama administration said that did not cover goods made abroad.

But Breyer said a careful reading of the law did not show that geography mattered. He was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

[T. Ferguson]

So does this void Rolex's exclusive right to import Rolex watches into the US?

[Dr.Brian]

I'm not sure if copyright law and trademark protection are the same thing with regard to this ruling.
Any knowledgeable attorneys want to weigh in?

[Frosty]

Cool!

[77T]

OP: Welcome to TRF! - and thanks for something new to ponder...

This ruling is very narrow - not a general reinterpretation of commercial import rules. The "first sale" doesn't take place when importing goods - a distributor acts as a channel for the manufacturer rather than an "owner".

I think this holds up for private sales to end users and their subsequent ability to transfer the item to a 3rd party.

[mikkibarry]

Well now this is quite interesting. Wiley, as a publisher, used the Copyright Act as an argument, and the Court found, if this story is correct, based on the exact wording of the Copyright Act. Trademark law, is governed by the Lanham Act. Since the Court used the language of the law rather than a broad prohibition against restricting importation of goods not protected by copyright, but protected instead by patent or trademark law, I wouldn't get my hopes up just yet that this will be of any use for purchasing Rolexes overseas. Now I'm saying this without reading the entire opinion (which frankly, after an 80 hour week of reading other legal stuff, I'm just too tired to deal with).

However, since the "first sale" doctrine was upheld, I would argue that if I purchase an item overseas, once that money changes hands, the item is now my property. It was sold to me. As lawful owner of the item, I should be able to import it for my own use, without any type of restriction whatsoever. If Rolex USA wants to keep out pallets of stuff, that's a different argument, as those items are going into the "stream of commerce."

[mrbill2mrbill2]

Welcome to TRF!

Interesting.

Cannot wait to see how this ruling pans out.

Seems like a pre-purchased Rolex from outside the USA can be shipped to the USA.

[77T]

Originally Posted by mikkibarry

However, since the "first sale" doctrine was upheld, I would argue that if I purchase an item overseas, once that money changes hands, the item is now my property. It was sold to me. As lawful owner of the item, I should be able to import it for my own use, without any type of restriction whatsoever. If Rolex USA wants to keep out pallets of stuff, that's a different argument, as those items are going into the "stream of commerce."

Agree with you

US Customs is upholding the Rolex trademark recordation with regards to "Import of Goods Bearing Genuine Trademarks or Restricted Trade Names". A private individual can hand carry one Rolex watch from a trip overseas without obtaining Rolex USA permission. But more than one, or ship into US and they will all be seized.

Commercial activity is different as you noted...

[Passionata]

some more news upon this topic
http://www.therecycler.com/posts/imp...%20some%20time

[mikkibarry]

Originally Posted by Passionata

some more news upon this topic
http://www.therecycler.com/posts/imp...%20some%20time

Yet another intellectual property protection scheme comes into play. Patent law is governed by another portion of the Lanham Act, and there are specific instances where goods that infringe on a US patent can be denied entry into the US. This is not the protection scheme that Rolex uses, however. Rolex's ability to keep products from coming into the US is based on trademark law.

[dogguru]

I think this will bring about a new category " used /never worn".