The $520,000 awarded against Redbubble to teen fashion line Brandy Melville by a California jury last month proved to be short-lived. On Tuesday, a federal judge granted Redbubble’s motion for judgment as a matter of law, slashing the judgment by more than half.
In June, a jury found Redbubble liable for willful contributory counterfeiting and infringement of Brandy Melville’s LA Lightning Mark and Heart Mark, which opened the door for treble damages. The jury assessed those damages at $200,000 for the LA Lightning Mark and $300,000 for the Brandy Melville Heart Mark (the additional $20,000 was for contributory infringement of the marks and unregistered marks).
But, because the evidence presented by Brandy Melville at trial did not show that the products on Redbubble bore hearts that were “remotely similar” to its Brandy Melville Heart Mark, “let alone ‘stich-for-stich copies’” amounting to counterfeit products, the Judge reduced the jury award by $300,000, leaving Brandy Melville with $220,000, at least before appeal or a motion for attorneys’ fees.
“Plaintiff failed to present evidence of products that bore a spurious Brandy Melville Heart Mark and were offered for sale on Redbubble.com that were remotely similar to products that Plaintiff offered for sale, let alone ‘stitch-for-stitch copies’ of Plaintiff’s products.”
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