Opinion ID: 767757
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: 6 The false advertising litigation before us has continued for six years, largely due to the paucity of legal rulings available to the trial court on some of the unique issues presented in this case. These issues pertain to the standards for establishing a violation of the Lanham Trade-Mark Act, the relief available once a violation is established, and the method of proofs necessary to establish entitlement to such relief. In particular, this case presents several issues of first impression: (1) whether, upon establishing a violation of the Lanham Act, a plaintiff can recover damage control costs without showing that the false advertising created actual confusion in the marketplace or actual damages in the marketplace; (2) whether a plaintiff can recover damages to goodwill or disgorgement of profits upon showing that an advertisement is literally false or deliberately false, where the plaintiff has no other proof of damages to its business; and (3) whether out-of-state, individual corporate officers who were personally involved in a Lanham Act violation are immune from the exercise of personal jurisdiction under the fiduciary shield doctrine. 7 For the reasons set forth below, we hold: that a plaintiff seeking to recover damage control costs under the Lanham Act for a defendant's false advertising is not required to show that the false advertising created actual confusion or damages in the marketplace; that in order to recover damage to goodwill or disgorgement of profits, a plaintiff must show at least some damage in the marketplace and cannot rely solely on the literal falsehood of an advertisement; and personal jurisdiction may be exercised over corporate agents based upon their minimum contacts with the forum state, as long as personal jurisdiction is not premised on the mere fact of jurisdiction over the corporation.