On April 23, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that a trademark owner may recover an infringer’s profits under the federal Lanham Act without having to prove that the trademark infringement was “willful.” The ruling, in Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil Group, Inc. (Docket No. 18-1233), resolved a split among the Circuit Courts on this issue. … Continue Reading
On June 24, 2019, the US Supreme Court invalidated the Lanham Act’s ban on registering “immoral or scandalous” trademarks. In Iancu v. Brunetti, the Court held that that the ban, in Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, violated the First Amendment because it required the Government to discriminate against certain viewpoints: marks considered to have … Continue Reading
In what many are calling a “game changing” decision, on March 25, 2014, the Supreme Court articulated the requirements for standing in false advertising cases brought under the Lanham Act in Lexmark v. Static Control, 572 U.S. ____ (2014). The long-running dispute between Static and Lexmark relates to the replacement toner market for printers. Lexmark … Continue Reading
