Trademark Law Extends to Some Foreign Conduct, 10th Cir. Says (1)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld a $113 million award to radio remote control maker Hetronic International Inc. Tuesday in a first-of-its-kind Lanham Act ruling for the appeals court.

The court created a new framework for when the Lanham Act can apply to foreign defendants, saying Hetronic’s foreign European partners substantially affected U.S. commerce with their infringement on Hetronic’s trademarks.

The appeals court rejected the sweeping scope of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma’s injunction, which covered the globe, but otherwise upheld that the Lanham Act does apply to the six defendants’ ...