The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on June 29 that a trademark law does not regulate the use of U.S. trademarks outside the United States.
At the same time, the justices split 5–4 on whether the holder of an infringed trademark could still seek damages domestically for the trademark infringement that took place abroad if it caused consumer confusion in the United States. The four-justice minority said the injured party should be able to seek damages in the United States.
The case concerns the reach of the Lanham Act of 1946, a federal law that regulates trademarks and unfair competition. The presumption in the United States is that U.S. laws do not apply to foreign conduct, but that presumption was called into question here because the conduct that took place outside the country allegedly had an effect on U.S. commerce….