NEW YORK - (Business Wire)
Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu, a leading firm in trademark, copyright, design patent and unfair competition law, announced today that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a decision following a bench trial in March awarding its client Crown Awards, Inc., a major trophy manufacturer, one hundred percent of attorneys
’ fees and costs.
In March, following a trial, Judge Colleen McMahon, enjoined the defendant, Discount Trophy & Co. Inc., from the manufacture and sale of the infringing trophy, and awarded Crown Awards, Inc. profits from sales of the infringing trophy. The court held that the defendant infringed the copyrights in Crown’s popular Spin Trophy by selling a trophy that the court found “strikingly similar” to the Spin Trophy. Following the entry of the judgment, Fross Zelnick filed a motion to recover its client’s attorneys’ fees from the defendant.
This month, Judge McMahon wrote that Crown and Fross Zelnick “prevailed in every stage of the litigation” and that Crown was entitled to recover its legal fees. Judge McMahon went on to write that “Fross Zelnick’s hourly rates for legal services have repeatedly been found to be fair by courts evaluating them,” and that “as a result of Fross Zelnick’s expertise in the field of copyright law, it does not expend extra time to understand the issues involved in a copyright case, and therefore spends only a reasonable number of hours to litigate the case.”
Partner Richard Lehv headed the Fross Zelnick trial team.
“Naturally we are very pleased with this decision,” said Mr. Lehv. “Not every prevailing plaintiff is awarded its attorneys’ fees. The award of 100 percent of fees is a credit to Crown Awards’ resolve, and to our efforts to keep our fees reasonable.”
About Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu, P.C.
Fross Zelnick is consistently recognized by clients and peers as one of the top intellectual property law firms in the world specializing exclusively in trademark, copyright, design and unfair competition law. Fross Zelnick's areas of expertise include litigation, registering, protecting and defending trademarks and copyrights, managing global trademark and copyright portfolios, Internet law, protecting character and publicity rights, design rights, and intellectual property due diligence audits and reviews. Additional information about the firm can be found at www.frosszelnick.com.
Starkman & Associates
Jeffrey Richardson, 212-252-8545, ext. 11
jrichardson@starkmanpr.com
