Swatch has announced plans to appeal the latest decision, which could potentially see the Swiss watchmaker returning CHF402.7 million (AU$531.5 m) that Tiffany was ordered to pay the company in an earlier ruling.
The legal matter is complex and began in September 2011 when Swatch terminated cooperation contracts with Tiffany over a failed watch collaboration.
The two companies had signed a 20-year exclusive agreement in December 2007, which stipulated the watch manufacturer would develop, produce and distribute Tiffany-branded watches through the Swatch-founded business, Tiffany Watch Co.
Swatch ended the partnership on the basis that Tiffany had made “systematic efforts to block and delay the development of the business”, and sued the luxury jeweller for CHF3.8 billion (AU$5 b).
Tiffany subsequently filed a counter-claim of CHF542 million (AU$715.1 m) in March 2012.
The dispute seemingly reached a conclusion in December 2013 when the Netherlands Arbitration Institute rejected Tiffany’s counter-claim and ordered it to pay Swatch CHF402.7 million (AU$531.5 m) in damages plus legal fees, which the jeweller paid in full in January 2014.
However, in March 2014, Tiffany petitioned the District Court of Amsterdam to annul the arbitration award, and on 4 March 2015, the court ruled in the retailer’s favour.
While the arbitration award has now been “set aside”, Dutch law allows Swatch to file an appeal, which the Swiss watchmaker indicated it intended to do.
“The setting aside has been undertaken on purely formal reasons which are fully contested by The Swatch Group Ltd,” a Swatch statement read. “Swatch Group is convinced that the arbitration award of December 21, 2013 was issued correctly and contains no formal error.”
It was said that the district court’s ruling would not be enforceable until a final decision had been made on Swatch’s appeal in the Netherlands’ supreme court.
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