On April 23, 2020, in Romag Fasteners v. Fossil, Inc., et al., Docket No. 18-1233, the Supreme Court of the United States held that a plaintiff in a trademark infringement suit is not required to show that a defendant willfully infringed the plaintiff’s trademark as a pre-condition to a profits award. The Supreme Court’s holding agreed with the arguments advanced in the amicus brief prepared by GBC attorneys Patrick Burns, Amy Ziegler, Justin Gaudio and Allyson Martin on behalf of the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago (IPLAC). Specifically, the Court agreed that the construction of the Lanham Act does not require willfulness, the principles of equity disfavor requiring willfulness, and the history of the Lanham Act does not support a willfulness requirement. Special thanks to Rachel Miller, a law student at Loyola University School of Law, who assisted in preparing the amicus brief.
Here is a link to the Supreme Court’s Opinion https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-1233_5he6.pdf