A manufacturer and seller of various goods, including designer eyewear, was not entitled to an award of profits, actual damages, or statutory damages on its Lanham Act claims against a wholesale distributor of eyewear that sold sunglasses bearing an exact reproduction of the manufacturer's "CC Design" trademark, the federal district court in Los Angeles has ruled. The manufacturer failed to provide the requisite notice of its federal registration.

Section 29 of the Lanham Act provides that a registrant that fails to give constructive notice of registration --that is, fails to include the ®symbol as part of its mark --cannot recover profits or damages in an infringement action unless the defendant had actual notice of the registration. This "actual notice" requirement also applied to suits seeking profits or actual damages for false designation of origin, false description, or dilution under the Lanham Act.

The manufacturer did not give constructive notice of its registration, and the distributor did not receive actual notice of the registration until it received service of the manufacturer's complaint, the court said. The manufacturer failed to present evidence that it sustained any actual damages after the date it filed the complaint.

The manufacturer was entitled to an award of $5,183 for violations of the California trademark dilution statute and for trademark infringement under California common law. This amount represented the net profit to the distributor from sales of the infringing sunglasses.

Coach, Inc., CD Cal., ¶61,524.