By: Derek Hawkins//December 9, 2019//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: LHO Chicago River, LLC, v. Joseph Perillo, et al.
Case No.: 19-1848
Officials: BAUER, MANION, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.
Focus: Lanham Act – Attorney Fees
Defendants appeal the denial of their request for Lanham Act attorney fees following the plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal of its trademark infringement suit. The lone question here is whether the Supreme Court’s decision in Octane Fitness, LLC v. ICON Health & Fitness, Inc., 572 U.S. 545 (2014)—a patent case—should guide district courts faced with Lanham Act attorney fees applications. Most of our sister circuits have answered that question in the affirmative, but we have never addressed the issue. The opportunity now presents itself, and for all the reasons herein, we join our sister circuits in holding that Octane controls and remand for further consideration.
Vacated and remanded