Appeals Court Threw Out Walmart’s $95M ‘Backyard Grill’ Trademark Lawsuit
(Reuters) – The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday threw out a $95 million jury award to Variety Stores Inc. for Walmart Inc.’s infringement of Variety’s “Backyard” trademarks with its “Backyard Grill.”
In an unpublished opinion by Circuit Judge Henry Floyd, a three-judge panel found U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle in Raleigh, North Carolina didn’t properly instruct the jury on the question of whether Walmart infringed the marks willfully.”
Without a sufficient understanding of the legal definition of ‘willfulness’ in the trademark context, we believe the jury acted in complete ignorance of fundamentally controlling legal principles,” said Floyd, who was joined by Circuit Judges Robert King and Stephanie Thacker.
The panel vacated the willfulness finding and “all subsequent findings predicated upon it,” and remanded for a new trial on the issue.
