Court Opinion

ID: 9475313
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:23:54.073935+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:39.028243
License: Public Domain

MANSFIELD, Circuit Judge
(concurring):
I concur. However, I would add that the majority opinion does not in my view preclude Judge Daly upon remand from awarding a reasonable attorney’s fee to Sony’s counsel pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1117, which provides in pertinent part that, “[t]he court in exceptional cases may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party”.
The record contains ample evidence of bad faith on the part of Elm State and foot-dragging on the part of its counsel, which put Sony to unnecessary trouble and expense. Despite a warning letter from Sony and after assuring that sales of the counterfeit semi-conductors would be stopped, Elm State nevertheless continued to sell the infringing items, forcing Sony to resort to an infringement action and to obtain injunctive relief. Thereafter, Elm *322State failed to appear at the preliminary injunction hearing and, despite its failure to demonstrate that it had any defense, unnecessarily prolonged the default proceedings. Indeed, even though it had weeks to prepare for the district court’s December 18, 1985, evidentiary hearing on damages, Elm State failed at that hearing to introduce evidence on that matter but further stalled the proceeding until its submission of its invoices on January 10, 1986.
This record would entitle the district judge upon remand to find “exceptional circumstances” within the meaning of § 1117.