A unanimous Supreme Court held that a trademark plaintiff awarded the 'defendant's profits' may recover only the named defendant's profits — not those of its non-party affiliates. The result is a $43 million award vacated and a lesson in how to plead.
The Ninth Circuit became the first court of appeals to declare squarely that trademark plaintiffs no longer enjoy a presumption of irreparable harm — they must prove it, like everyone else seeking an injunction.
When a tire giant rolled out a 'Bigfoot' campaign over a small dealer's prior mark, the Tenth Circuit fashioned a remedy borrowed from the FTC — corrective advertising damages — and capped it at a fraction of the offending ad spend.
A unanimous Supreme Court held that a trademark plaintiff need not prove willful infringement as a precondition to recovering the infringer's profits under Section 35(a) — reshaping the calculus of every infringement demand letter.
