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Keywords

lawsuitdefendantlitigationattorneyappealtrademark

attorneypatent

Related Cases

LHO Chicago River, L.L.C. v. Perillo, 942 F.3d 384

Facts

LHO Chicago River, L.L.C. owns the 'Hotel Chicago' mark and operates a hotel in downtown Chicago. In May 2016, competitors opened their own 'Hotel Chicago' just three miles away, prompting LHO to file a lawsuit for trademark infringement and unfair competition. After more than a year of litigation, LHO voluntarily dismissed its claims with prejudice, leading the defendants to request attorney fees under the Lanham Act, which the district court denied.

LHO Chicago River, L.L.C., owns an upscale, downtown Chicago hotel that underwent a branding change in February 2014 when the establishment became 'Hotel Chicago,' a signature Marriott venue. Around May 2016, Joseph Perillo and his three associated entities—Rosemoor Suites, LLC, Portfolio Hotels & Resorts, LLC, and Chicago Hotel, LLC—opened their own 'Hotel Chicago' only three miles from LHO's site.

Issue

Whether the district court should apply the Supreme Court's standard from Octane Fitness for determining exceptional cases when considering requests for attorney fees under the Lanham Act.

The lone question here is whether the Supreme Court's decision in Octane Fitness, LLC v. ICON Health & Fitness, Inc., 572 U.S. 545, 134 S.Ct. 1749, 188 L.Ed.2d 816 (2014) —a patent case—should guide district courts faced with Lanham Act attorney fees applications.

Rule

The court must analyze the totality of the circumstances to determine if a case is exceptional, exercising equitable discretion in light of various factors, including frivolousness, motivation, and objective unreasonableness.

An 'exceptional' case is simply one that stands out from others with respect to the substantive strength of a party's litigating position (considering both the governing law and the facts of the case) or the unreasonable manner in which the case was litigated.

Analysis

The court found that the district judge did not apply the appropriate standard from Octane Fitness when denying the defendants' request for attorney fees. Instead, the judge adhered to a more rigid 'abuse of process' standard, which the appellate court deemed insufficient. The appellate court emphasized that the totality of the circumstances should be considered to assess whether the case was exceptional.

We think it fair that such a scenario should not render a case unexceptional and prevent recovery of fees so automatically.

Conclusion

The appellate court vacated the district court's order denying attorney fees and remanded the case for further consideration under the correct standard established by Octane Fitness.

Therefore, we join our sister circuits and adopt Octane's 'exceptional case' standard as the governing framework for attorney fees requests under § 1117(a) of the Lanham Act.

Who won?

The defendants prevailed in the appeal as the court agreed that the district court's denial of attorney fees was based on an incorrect standard.

The Court reached this holding by construing the term 'exceptional' in accordance with the word's ordinary meaning.

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