NATIONAL BUSINESS FORMS & PRINTING, INC. v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY
22.05.12
2. NBFP asserts on appeal that the Lanham Act's innocent infringer exception exculpates it from liability on infringement, pressing policy-based arguments that reveal its misunderstanding that the exception offers printers full immunity for their acts.
See 15 U.S.C. § 1114(2)(A) ("[T]he owner of the right infringed . . . shall be entitled as against such infringer . . . only to an injunction against future printing."). The district court held that this exception does not apply because NBFP failed to show its infringement was objectively reasonable.
See Dial One of Mid-South, Inc. v. BellSouth Telecommc'ns, Inc., 269 F.3d 523 , 526 (5th Cir. 2001) ("[T]he proper standard for evaluating whether an infringer is innocent is objective reasonableness."). The district court reasoned that "NBFP's blind reliance on . .. `check the box' representations from a universe of unknown internet purchasers affords no objectively reasonable basis for an honest belief that these purchasers
Source: Leagle.com