Michael Atkins - Seattle Trademark Lawyer

Recommend If You Direct Your Corporation to Infringe a Trademark, You're Personally Liable (Email)

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David Donoguhe’s Chicago IP Litigation Blog features a new decision from the Northern District of Illinois.

The punch line is if you’re a corporate officer, you can’t expect to find protection behind the corporate shield if you were involved in directing your company to infringe a trademark.

That may come as a surprise, but the law’s by no means unique to the Seventh Circuit. A case out of the Central District of California last year summarizes the rule of law in these parts as well:

“An individual who personally directs a corporation in committing trademark infringement, or who personally commits those acts, is personally liable for that infringement.”

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Copyright © 2006-2021, Michael G. Atkins. All rights reserved. I'm a partner and Seattle intellectual property attorney at Atkins Intellectual Property, PLLC, where I focus my practice on issues involving the Lanham Act, including trademark infringement, unfair competition, trade dress infringement, trademark dilution, false designation of origin, counterfeiting, cybersquatting, trademark licensing, trademark applications, trademark registrations, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), and the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). Thanks for checking out my blog. Please visit again soon!