A Tiffany & Co. subsidiary filed a lawsuit against Costco Wholesale Corp on Thursday, claiming the wholesale operator has been selling engagement rings wrongly labeled "Tiffany" rings for years.

Tiffany and Company alleged trademark infringement, counterfeiting, unfair competition, injury to business reputation, false advertising and deceptive business practices, according to The Associated Press. The company said the rings are not in fact Tiffany rings, nor are they in any way associated with Tiffany, though they have been carrying its names for years. Tiffany is seeking for Costco to forfeit profits from the ring sales, plus damages of $2 million per infringement. 

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in New York.

"We now know that there are at least hundreds if not thousands of Costco members who think they bought a Tiffany engagement ring at Costco, which they didn't," Tiffany's counsel Jeffrey Mitchell said in a statement.  

Tiffany said a customer contacted the retailer in November about a sale of what was promoted on in-store Costco signs in one California stores as "Tiffany" diamond engagement rings. Confused by the alleged sale, Tiffany launched an investigation into the matter and eventually learned that Costco has been selling different types of rings for years, identifying them as "Tiffany" rings without the company's knowledge.

The jewelry retailer said in its suit Costco led its customers to believe they were buying authentic Tiffany products at discount prices. Tiffany also discovered that Costco was not using the Tiffany trademarks online for the same products to avoid detection, according to the lawsuit. 

Costco has not released a statement on the filed lawsuit.

"Costco knew what it was doing when it used the Tiffany trademark to sell rings that had nothing to do with Tiffany," Mitchell said. "This is not the kind of behavior people expect from a company like Costco, and this case will shed a much needed light on this outrageous behavior." 

Tags: Tiffany & Co. costco