Posts Tagged: "Fourth Circuit"

Evidence of Bad Faith Leads Fourth Circuit to Affirm Disgorgement and Attorneys’ Fees in Trademark Case

On August 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a ruling in Dewberry Engineers Inc. v. Dewberry Group, Inc. in which the appellate court affirmed a series of district court orders, including a $43 million profit disgorgement award for trademark infringement. The Fourth Circuit also affirmed an attorneys’ fees award for pervasive breaches of a previous agreement settling trademark claims between the commercial real estate firms in the case.

Supreme Court to Determine if Bankruptcy Code Allows Debtor to Terminate Trademark License Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC on appeal from the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The case will ask the nation’s highest court to determine whether 11 U.S.C. § 365, the statute in U.S. bankruptcy code regarding executory contracts and unexpired leases, requires that a debtor-licensor’s rejection of a trademark license agreement in bankruptcy terminates rights of the licensee that would survive the licensor’s breach under applicable non-bankruptcy law. The Supreme Court declined to take up a second question presented on whether an exclusive right to sell certain products practicing a patent in a particular geographic territory is a “right to intellectual property” within Section 365(n) of U.S. bankruptcy code.

Amid Cultural Debate on Political Correctness, Trademarks with Racial Overtones Look Set for Supreme Court

Two cases making their way through the Federal courts may force the Supreme Court to consider the issue of what sorts of trademarks should be considered “disparaging,” and whether the government may lawfully prevent the registration of such trademarks… The Redskins appealed to the Fourth Circuit in August 2015 and the parties’ and amici briefs have been rolling ever since. As of April 25, 2016, the Redskins have petitioned the United States Supreme Court to review their case, skipping over the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal.