A unanimous Supreme Court yesterday significantly curtailed the FTC’s ability to obtain the equitable monetary remedies of restitution and disgorgement of profits from entities accused of engaging in deceptive practices in...more
In a decision issued on June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a generic word combined with “.com,” such as Booking.com, is entitled to federal registration if consumers perceive the combined mark as a non-generic brand...more
7/1/2020
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Booking.com ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Generic Marks ,
Lanham Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO
Under Section 1117(a) of the Trademark Act, courts may award the plaintiff's lost profits or the defendant's profits resulting from a violation of the statute. The Supreme Court decided today that while a defendant's mental...more
4/23/2020
/ Appeals ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Certiorari ,
Disgorgement ,
Lanham Act ,
Romag Fasteners v Fossil ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Willful Infringement
Last summer, we covered the Supreme Court’s decision to grant certiorari in Romag Fasteners v. Fossil in order to decide whether § 1117(a) of the Lanham Act requires that a plaintiff make a showing of willfulness in order to...more
On Friday, June 28, 2019, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc. to decide whether a showing of willfulness is necessary to obtain a defendant’s profits under the Lanham Act....more
7/2/2019
/ Appeals ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Damages ,
Disgorgement ,
Fashion Design ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Profits ,
Remand ,
Romag Fasteners v Fossil ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Willful Infringement
On November 13, 2018, the Supreme Court agreed to consider the amount of deference a federal court is required to give the Federal Communications Commission in determining what constitutes an unsolicited advertisement within...more
Recently, the Supreme Court in Microsoft Corp. v. Baker, 137 S. Ct. 1702 (2017), held that the plaintiff in a putative class action involving Xbox 360 game consoles could not appeal from the District Court’s denial of class...more
On March 22, 2017, the Supreme Court held in Star Athletica, LLC v. Varsity Brands, Inc. that designs on cheerleading uniforms may be protectable under the Copyright Act. The Court's 6-2 decision, clarifying the...more
3/27/2017
/ Cheerleaders ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Fashion Design ,
Fashion Industry ,
Graphic Designs ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 101 ,
Separability ,
Sports Apparel ,
Star Athletica v Varsity Brands ,
The Copyright Act ,
Uniforms ,
Utilitarian Function
In a 6-2 decision, the Supreme Court, in an opinion authored by Justice Alito, held that the Ninth Circuit’s Article III standing analysis in Robins v. Spokeo was incomplete because it focused solely on whether the plaintiff...more