[E-trademarks] Hivemind thoughts on the Luke Combs counterfeiting case?

[Dineen Wasylik]

The dirty little secret of Trademark (and copyright) enforcement right now,
is how many thousands of little people are being slammed with these massive
judgments and their money frozen so they can’t even afford to pay for a
defense (if they ever could). Service by email often goes to spam or is not
understood as being real.  Sometimes Plaintiffs settle for collecting
whatever is in the PayPal or other merchant account seized, but other times
they are very aggressive about garnishing accounts. We really need a
statutory damages reform it is too easy to prove willfulness and too easy
to get Federal judges to make large awards.  There is little to tether stat
damages to reality.  Yes, we need to deter people from making money off of
others’ IP.  Yes, they should be disgorged of profits.  But there is no
need to crush families who are just trying to do a little side gig to get
by, however misguided.  The need for deterrence is amply met without
bankrupting people.  (Oh wait, with a default you admit willfulness and
this the judgment is likely not discharge or in bankruptcy, either).

On Wed, Dec 20, 2023 at 9:45 AM Kevin Grierson via E-trademarks <
e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com> wrote:

> Thanks.  I read about this case.  Hadn’t seen the article, but I had the
> same thought—it was a bit weird that Combs apparently didn’t know who he
> was suing.  I also thought it was kind of crazy that he got default
> judgments for $250K in statutory damages.  I realize that statutory damages
> aren’t the same as actual damages, but it was my recollection from my
> litigation days that even if you got a default judgment you still had to
> put on evidence of what your damages actually were.  Hard to see how a
> court actually hearing about a counterfeiter with a couple of hundred
> dollars in sales would have awarded a $250K judgment.
>
>
>
> *Kevin Grierson**​**​**​**​*
>
> *CULHANE**|*MEADOWS PLLC <http://www.culhanemeadows.com/>
>
> [image: Mobile:]
>
>   757-726-7799
>
> [image: Fax:]
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> [image: Email:]
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>
>
> *From:* E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com> *On Behalf
> Of *Jessica R. Friedman via E-trademarks
> *Sent:* Wednesday, December 20, 2023 8:46 AM
> *To:* For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek
> legal advice. <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
> *Cc:* Jessica R. Friedman <jrfriedman at litproplaw.com>
> *Subject:* [E-trademarks] Hivemind thoughts on the Luke Combs
> counterfeiting case?
>
>
>
> EXTERNAL EMAIL
>
> When the client doesn’t realize that very little people are being sued and
> isn’t happy about it. (I realize that Above the Law is kind of snarky, but
> still, the column raises a valid question.)
>
>
>
>
> https://abovethelaw.com/2023/12/counterfeit-litigation-combsover/?utm_campaign=Above%20the%20Law%20Daily&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=287255389&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9T50RzHAThxqU4oWOYk2LPdBT-QGExRqSisc2JJ902r1irlYYoTd5luTcLSw8gtvfFLtHP1s6vw8TXVxikHkLuRzwzqg&utm_content=287255389&utm_source=hs_email
>
>
>
>
>
> Jessica R. Friedman
>
> Attorney at Law
>
> 300 East 59 Street, Ste. 2406
>
> New York, NY 10022
>
> Phone: 212-220-0900
>
> Cell: 917-647-1884
>
> E-mail: jrfriedman at litproplaw.com
>
> URL: www.literarypropertylaw.com
>
>
>
> [image: 1479430908386_PastedImage]
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