"WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court limited the reach of federal trademark law, making it harder for U.S. companies to sue foreign rivals who sell copycat products abroad.
The court, in an opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, said a lower court erred in upholding nearly $100 million in trademark damages to an Oklahoma-based manufacturer of remote controls for heavy machinery, Hetronic International, which sued several European companies for manufacturing and selling identical products under the American brand name, mostly in overseas markets.
Alito said Congress hadn't indicated that federal trademark law should apply to conduct in foreign territories. U.S. legal provisions that prohibit trademark infringement "extend only to the claims where the claimed infringing use in commerce is domestic," he wrote.
While the justices agreed that lower courts had improperly applied trademark law beyond U.S. borders, they split on the proper framework that should be applied in future cases. A five-justice majority said the proper focus was the location of where a trademark is used in commerce.
Four other justices, led by Sonia Sotomayor, said they would have adopted a broader standard that extended the reach of U.S. trademark law abroad "when there is a likelihood of consumer confusion in the United States."" [1]
1. U.S. News: Overseas Reach of Trademark Law Is Limited. Yu, Isaac.
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 30 June 2023: A.6.
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