2008), was a case decided by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that held that in copyright law, the first-sale doctrine does not act as a defense to claims of infringing distribution and importation for unauthorized sale of authentic, imported watches that bore a design registered in the Copyright Office.

[1] It is contrasted with Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.[2] The plaintiff, Omega SA, is a luxury watchmaker based in Switzerland that distributes its watches through authorized retailers.

The court cited Ninth Circuit precedents that interpreted the first-sale doctrine as applying only to goods made in the United States.

[7] On remand to the district court, both Costco and Omega moved for summary judgment on the issue of copyright misuse.

[10] The decision has been characterized as a loss for consumers in the sense that manufacturers will better be able to control the prices of their goods when the grey market cannot serve as competition.