Opinion ID: 782913
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Garcia's Appeal of the Award of Attorneys' Fees to Horphag

Text: 17 This court reviews a district court's award of attorneys' fees for an abuse of discretion. Cairns, 292 F.3d at 1156. An abuse of discretion is a plain error, discretion exercised to an end not justified by the evidence, a judgment that is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts as are found. See Wing v. Asarco Inc., 114 F.3d 986, 988 (9th Cir.1997). Under the abuse of discretion standard, a reviewing court cannot reverse a decision of the district court unless the reviewing court has a definite and firm conviction that the district court committed a clear error of judgment in the conclusion it reached upon a weighing of the relevant factors. SEC v. Coldicutt, 258 F.3d 939, 941 (9th Cir.2001). 18 Under § 1117(a) of the Lanham Act, a court may award the prevailing party reasonable attorneys' fees in exceptional circumstances. Exceptional cases include cases in which the infringement is malicious, fraudulent, deliberate, or willful. Gracie v. Gracie, 217 F.3d 1060, 1068 (9th Cir.2000); see also Cairns, 292 F.3d at 1156. The district court properly found that Garcia's infringement was willful and deliberate, and therefore, sufficient to justify an award of attorneys' fees. The district court's findings regarding Horphag's trademark infringement claim are supported fully by the record. Because nothing in the record indicates that the district court committed a clear error of judgment in awarding Horphag reasonable attorneys' fees, we affirm the award. In its fees analysis, the district court reasonably reduced the award to account for only the time spent on the issues on which Horphag prevailed. Before the district court, Horphag prevailed on its trademark dilution claim, and the district court awarded fees accordingly. Because we vacate and remand the district court's decision on the dilution claim, we also direct the district court to reconsider the portion of its fees analysis related to this dilution claim.