VeriSign, Inc. v. XYZ.COM LLC

FLOYD, Circuit Judge:

This case arises out of a denial of a motion for an award of attorney fees under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1117 (a), which allows a court to award "reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party" in "exceptional cases." For the reasons that follow, we hold that a prevailing party need only prove an exceptional case by a preponderance of the evidence, rather than by clear and convincing evidence, as the district court below required. We further clarify that a prevailing party need not establish that the losing party acted in bad faith in order to prove an exceptional…