The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it was deadlocked 4-4 on whether Costco Wholesale Corp. could be held liable for copyright infringement for reselling luxury Swiss watches it obtained through second-hand sources.

The court's even split means that a lower-court ruling against Costco stays in place, though the case sets no new Supreme Court precedent because it ended in a tie.

The deadlock provided an anticlimactic conclusion to a case that had potentially significant implications for discount stores, and for companies like eBay Inc. that facilitate secondary markets for the resale of CDs, software and other goods.

Read the complete Wall Street Journal story, “High Court Splits Evenly in Costco Case.”