Dist. Ct. erred in denying defendants’ request for attorney fees under Lanham Act, where plaintiff had voluntarily dismissed its trademark infringement action after litigation had progressed for more than one year. While Dist. Ct. used standard that required defendants to show that plaintiff’s claim was “abuse of process” where plaintiff either used claim to extort or inflict disproportionate costs on defendants or brought frivolous claim to obtain external gain, Dist. Ct. should have evaluated fee request under “totality of circumstances” standard set forth in Octane Fitness, LLC, 572 U.S. 545 that looks to substantive strength of plaintiff’s litigation position or to unreasonable manner in which plaintiff’s claim was litigated. As such, remand was required for Dist. Ct. to consider fee request under Octane standard.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Attorney Fees