The estate of Laser racing sailboat designer Bruce Kirby wrongly won a $2 million trademark award because a lower court’s finding of willfulness was flawed, the Second Circuit said.
Kirby’s estate successfully defended a $2.5 million award from another boat-making licensee, LaserPerformance Inc., the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled. But Quarter Moon Inc.’s award rested on willfulness, despite Kirby failing to show it should have known it lost rights to his name for most of the time period at issue, the court said.
The reversal hinged on what the court would accept as sufficient notice to …
