I’ve talked before about the PRO-IP Act (signed Oct. 13, 2008), which amended the Lanham and Copyright Acts as part of Congress’ most recent attempt to crack down on counterfeiters and copyright infringers. On the trademark side of things, the Act doubled the range of statutory damages available in counterfeiting cases (to the range of $1,000 to $200,000 and up to $2 million if the counterfeiting is willful) and clarified that treble damages and an award of attorney’s fees are mandatory in willful counterfeiting cases regardless of whether the defendant is a direct, vicarious, or contributory infringer.
I mention this not only because I have PRO-IP on the brain but more importantly because I came across an excellent introduction to the statute. It’s an article that attorneys Stephen J. Zralek and Dylan Ruga were good enough to publish in the Jan./Feb. 2009 issue of Landslide, a great ABA publication. As far as I can tell, this is the best summary of the Act yet — not to be missed if you work in this space.