Landlord Hit with $1.1 Million Statutory Damage Award Based on Building's Connection with Counterfeiting and Trademark Violations—Landlord Was Willfully Blind as to the Identity of Potential Infringers—Plaintiff Need Not Show Actual Damages Since It Only Claimed Statutory Damages Which Were Permitted by the Lanham Act

A building owner (landlord) appealed from a judgment which awarded $1.1 million in statutory damages to a plaintiff watch manufacturer, based on the landlord's "contributory infringement" of the plaintiff's trademarks, arising from the sales of counterfeit watches at the owner's property in Manhattan. The landlord challenged the trial court's denial of its pre-trial motion for summary judgment, jury instructions on the elements of contributory infringement, numerous evidentiary rulings and the scope of a permanent injunction. The United States Court of Appeals (Second Circuit) (Court) affirmed the trial court judgment and injunction. One judge concurred in part and dissented in part.