Opinion ID: 712975
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Willful Infringement as a Prerequisite to an Award of Defendant's Profits

Text: 12 Adray argues on appeal that the district court erred in instructing the jury that it must find willful infringement before awarding defendant's profits to Adray. An instruction that willful infringement is a prerequisite to an award of defendant's profits may be error in some circumstances (as when plaintiff seeks the defendant's profits as a measure of his own damage, Lindy Pen Co. v. Bic Pen Corp., 982 F.2d 1400, 1407-09 (9th Cir.1993)), but was appropriate on the record in this case. Adray conceded that he did not seek to recover Adry-Mart's profits as a measure of his own lost sales, since he disclaimed any intent to seek damages based on lost sales. See October 2, 1992 Transcript at 170. In these circumstances, Adray could recover Adry-Mart's profits only if the infringement was willful. Lindy Pen, 982 F.2d at 1405-09.