Tagged: Trademark Infringement
On October 14, 2010, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted what is reportedly the largest judgment ever awarded in an action involving on-line counterfeiting. In Farouk Systems, Inc. v. Eyou Int’l Trading Co., Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt entered a default judgment and permanent injunction against more than seventy defendants, who were operating an Internet counterfeiting ring out of China. The judgment required that each of the defendants pay Farouk statutory damages of $4 million, resulting in an award of approximately $300 million. In addition to being significant because of the amount of the damages awarded, this decision is noteworthy for the pragmatic approach that the court took to ensure that the relief awarded to the plaintiff would be meaningful.
On August 5, 2010, the Second Circuit issued an important decision affecting a brand owner’s ability to establish personal jurisdiction against out-of-state defendants involved in the online sale of counterfeit goods. In Chloe v. Queen Bee of Beverly Hills, LLC, the Second Circuit vacated a Southern District of New York (“SDNY”) decision dismissing an anti-counterfeiting case for lack of personal jurisdiction. See Chloe v. Queen Bee of Beverly Hills, LLC, 571 F. Supp. 2d 518 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) (hereafter “District Court op.”), vacated and remanded, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 16192 (2d Cir. 2010) (hereafter “Second Circuit op.”).
Last month, ICANN announced that its Board had approved changes to the Rules for the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (“Rules”) providing for electronic filing of UDRP documents. Under the modified Rules, electronic filing will become mandatory effective March 1, 2010. Both the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) and the National Arbitration Forum (“NAF”) were quick to implement the paperless filings. WIPO began accepting paperless filings on December 14, 2009. The WIPO eUDRP procedures are explained in its new Supplemental Rules, Model Complaint and Filing Guidelines.
