Victorinox AG, manufacturer of the real Swiss Army knife, and owner of the Swiss Army trademark, won its trademark infringement lawsuit against B&F System Inc., manufacturer of counterfeit products. Victorinox was initially awarded $8 million, and that number was based on treble damages (B&F’s infringement was obviously willful, come on) and for sales going back 30 years and reimbursement of Victorinox’s legal costs. The court also issued an injunction barring sales of the infringing products.
The U.S. District Court judge then revised his earlier ruling, and trimmed the award back to a paltry $1.7 million because the statute of limitations does not permit damages to be paid back that far. Where is McGiver when we really need him?