Question

Please offer a well reasoned and articulate discussion on a case relevant to the chapter under study which includes the rationale for the decision in same along with the ramifications thereof for business and society.

Gucci America, Inc v. Wang Huoqing

Answer 1

In the case Gucci America, Inc v. Wang Huoqing Gucci had sued Wang Huoqing for selling fake and counterfeit goods bearing Gucci’s labels and trademarks through various websites. Gucci sued Wang Huoqing for trademark infringement and in a federal district court in California. In its suit Gucci was seeking damages from Wang and an injunction that would prevent further infringement. The notification of the lawsuit was sent to Wang via e-mail but Wang did not appear in court. Then Gucci requested the court to enter a default judgement. The California Court passed the default judgement only after determining if it had personal jurisdiction over Wang. For this the court used California’s long arm statute and Due Process Clause of the Constitution. As per the Due Process Clause a federal court can exercise jurisdiction where the defendant has had sufficient minimum contacts with the forum to subject him to the jurisdiction of the court. Once the California Court determined that it had personal jurisdiction over Wang it entered a default judgement against Wang.

The rationale for the decision is based on legal principles and that trademark counterfeiting hurts the interest of the holder of the trademark and hence the holder needs to be compensated. Besides this an injunction will have to be provided to ensure that further damages are not done through any more trademark violations. The ramifications thereof for business and society is that owners of trademark can rest be assured that their trademarks will be protected by law even if the violating party is a foreign citizen or resident. For this certain conditions will have to be met with regards to personal jurisdiction. Once the conditions are met then the court will go all out to protect the interest of the trademark owner. The business can take solace in this and the society needs to be aware and cautious for not violating any trademark and copyrights and for not buying counterfeit goods.