Tiffany & Co. has lost the latest round in its seven-year-old battle with Swatch over the two companies’ failed joint watch venture, according to an 8-K report the retailer filed April 25 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
On April 25, the appeals court of Amsterdam upheld the $450 million award that an arbitration panel first issued to Swatch in 2013. It also awarded Swatch an additional 6,340 euros (about $6,900) in legal costs.
The seesaw legal battle—which has now lasted about as long as Tiffany and Swatch’s joint watch company did—dates back to 2012, five years after their ambitious plan for a Tiffany watch line dissolved in acrimony and recriminations. In 2013, the dispute was taken before an arbitration panel in the Netherlands. Swatch won that arbitration—netting a sizable enough award that it turned Tiffany’s annual profit that year into a loss.
