03 Jul Newman Du Wors Wins Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Case Setting Standard for Attorneys Fees in False Advertising and Trademark Cases

Newman Du Wors attorneys Derek Newman, Jessica Newman, and Jason Sykes won a federal appeal establishing the new standard for winning attorney fees in trademark and false-advertising cases. After winning a false-advertising case by summary judgement in a Virginia federal court, the firm asked the trial court to award attorney fees to its client, domain-name registry XYZ. The trial court denied the motion. But on appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed with the firm that the trial court applied the wrong standard. The appeals court published its opinion setting the standard for when a prevailing party is entitled to fees under the Lanham Act, the federal law of trademark and false advertising. See Verisign, Inc. v. XYZ.COM LLC, 891 F.3d 481 (4th Cir. 2018).