Last Friday, the Fifth Circuit reinstated a damages award (for trademark infringement) more than 5000 times bigger than the amount the district court allowed after receiving supplemental evidence. The lower court cut the damages to $227.10 from $1,256,635 because the defendant, an agricultural cooperative, showed that its taxable profits amounted to the far smaller figure. The Fifth Circuit held that the true profits from the coop’s infringement equaled its taxable profits plus the profits it passed through to its member-owners. Am. Rice, Inc. v. Producers Rice Mill, Inc. , No. 06-20645 (5th Cir. Feb. 22, 2008).
