Is this legal?

[Chelsea Palmer]

Hello, thank you for reading my post. I saw a 10-carat imitation Harry Winston emerald diamond ring on another website. The wearer of this gorgeous diamond openly shared the vendor who made this for her. My concern is they stamped the inside of the ring with “HW”. I would have no interest in stamping an inauthentic Harry Winston ring with his initials but I’m curious to know if this is legal? I can’t imagine it is, and having never seen a Harry Winston ring I don’t know if the stamp is identical to the stamp in his rings, but I am curious to know if such a practice is legal. Thank you again.

 

[freddyboston]

unauthorized use of trademark..... counterfeiting... could be fraud if they are not disclosing to the buyer....

i assume it's an overseas vendor

 

[Rockdiamond]

Terrible.
Is it possible that there was an existing ring that the diamond was set into?

 

[freddyboston]

Looks like they even make replica boxes and forged certificates......

 

[Chelsea Palmer]

Looks like they even make replica boxes and forged certificates......

“Forged certificate” meaning it’s a certified Harry Winston ring? And this is legal?

 

[Karl_K]

No, it is not legal.

CBP seizes more than $9.2 million of counterfeit luxury jewelry in a single shipment

Securing America's Borders

www.cbp.gov

Suspected intellectual property rights violations, fraud, or illegal trade activity can be reported by contacting CBP through the e-Allegations Online Trade Violations Reporting System or by calling 1-800-BE-ALERT. Violations can also be reported to the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center at https://www.iprcenter.gov/referral/ or by telephone at 1-866-IPR-2060.

 

[Chelsea Palmer]

No, it is not legal.

CBP seizes more than $9.2 million of counterfeit luxury jewelry in a single shipment

Securing America's Borders

www.cbp.gov

Suspected intellectual property rights violations, fraud, or illegal trade activity can be reported by contacting CBP through the e-Allegations Online Trade Violations Reporting System or by calling 1-800-BE-ALERT. Violations can also be reported to the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center at https://www.iprcenter.gov/referral/ or by telephone at 1-866-IPR-2060.

Thank you, Karl K. I was wondering, because the owner of this ring shared the vendor info. There seems to be no subterfuge at all.

 

[Chelsea Palmer]

Terrible.
Is it possible that there was an existing ring that the diamond was set into?

Good observation, but I don’t think that was the case. This seemed to be blatantly advertised as an imitation Harry Winston ring. That was what was so surprising to me.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Completely unacceptable!!!
Shame someone would stoop so low..

 

[Roselina]

No, certainly not.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Interesting discussion.
Re-reading the initial post....
It's another website. There's no way we can "validate" the photo.
Totally glad you started the discussion @Chelsea Palmer - not to question you at all....
But acting as a "jewelry detective"...
The photo looks to be a very hard to replicate, accurate Happy Winston laser Inscription.
It's not an easy matter to replicate something like that.
So my question would be to see the entire ring to understand what's going on.

NO question it's actionable to use another company's trademark.
I'm not a lawyer, but it's probably not "against the law" in the sense that the wronged party would likely need to bring suit to stop the behavior.....

 

[Karl_K]

This will tell you more than you want to know about criminal trademark infringement in the US or importing into the US.

Criminal Trademark and Copyright Infringement

You could face time in federal prison if convicted of criminal infringement of someone's intellectual property through trademark or copyright infringement.

www.thefederalcriminalattorneys.com

 

[Chelsea Palmer]

Interesting discussion.
Re-reading the initial post....
It's another website. There's no way we can "validate" the photo.
Totally glad you started the discussion @Chelsea Palmer - not to question you at all....
But acting as a "jewelry detective"...
The photo looks to be a very hard to replicate, accurate Happy Winston laser Inscription.
It's not an easy matter to replicate something like that.
So my question would be to see the entire ring to understand what's going on.

NO question it's actionable to use another company's trademark.
I'm not a lawyer, but it's probably not "against the law" in the sense that the wronged party would likely need to bring suit to stop the behavior.....

Thank you. This ring belongs to someone. I happened to see her post on a different website (not PS). At first I assumed it WAS an authentic Harry Winston diamond ring but as I scrolled down I realized it was, for lack of a better word, counterfeit. But the poster freely shared the vendor info, along with photos of the “HW” inscription. And that’s what piqued my curiosity. I believe poster even stated that the inscription looked very similar to an authentic HW diamond ring. There was no evidence that I saw to indicate it was being passed of as authentic. In fact, I got the opposite impression.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Interesting link Karl!
Clearly, the Feds involvement would be terrible news for someone violating these statutes.
It seems to me that if the violation was that severe, the offending party is going to be a corporation.

 

[Rockdiamond]

But the poster freely shared the vendor info, along with photos of the “HW” inscription

We can all agree that the behavior described is bad news from a legal standpoint in any event.
For me, the question is more about the poster. It’s not you making claims.
The stamp looks like a legit HW stamp.
Maybe the poster on the other website got pictures mixed up.
Even worse, what if they were using false pretense to attack a vendor.
Or maybe it’s all legit and the criticism is warranted. Just saying the pic- and description of events make me ask questions

 

[Matata]

I used google lens on the OP photo and found a review on reddit of a HW 10 carat LGD ring and the pic also includes a replicate Patek Philippe watch. It seems that there are many Chinese vendors who willingly make authentic looking replicates.

 

[Chelsea Palmer]

I used google lens on the OP photo and found a review on reddit of a HW 10 carat LGD ring and the pic also includes a replicate Patek Philippe watch. It seems that there are many Chinese vendors who willingly make authentic looking replicates.

That much I know from all the Asian vendors that used to hawk counterfeit designer handbags on Canal Street in New York City, and perhaps still do. But when the cops showed up, they wrapped everything up very quickly. In the case of OP with the HW ring, she was very open about the vendor she purchased it from. That was really what made me question the legality aspect. I didn’t think it was legal to blatantly copy someone’s trademark, assuming the HW initials are a trademark, but because she was so open about it is what made me wonder. It made me think maybe that it is not illegal. And that was shocking to me.

 

[Rfisher]

There seems to be no subterfuge at all.

None at all in that subreddit or others like it.
Until the time comes the reason they requested the fake replicas of boxes and certificates and maker marks.