UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS April 23, 2024

Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________

HETRONIC INTERNATIONAL, INC.,

Plaintiff – Appellee,

v. Nos. 20-6057 & 20-6100

HETRONIC GERMANY GMBH; HYDRONIC-STEUERSYSTEME GMBH; ABI HOLDING GMBH; ABITRON GERMANY GMBH; ABITRON AUSTRIA GMBH; ALBERT FUCHS,

Defendants – Appellants.

________________________________

On Remand from the Supreme Court of the United States (S.C. No. 21-1043) (D.C. No. 5:14-CV-00650-F) ___________________________________

Lucas M. Walker (Anton J. Rupert and Geren T. Steiner, Rupert & Steiner PLLC, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on the supplemental briefs), of MoloLamken LLP, Washington, D.C., for Defendants - Appellants.

Debbie L. Berman (Wade A. Thomson, Jenner & Block LLP, Chicago, Illinois, Gianni P. Servodidio, Rémi J.D. Jaffré, Jenner & Block LLP, New York, New York, Matthew S. Hellman, Jenner & Block LLP, Washington, D.C., Samuel R. Fulkerson, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart P.C., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with her on the supplemental brief), of Jenner & Block LLP, Chicago, Illinois, for Plaintiff - Appellee. _________________________________ Appellate Case: 20-6057 Document: 010111036569 Date Filed: 04/23/2024 Page: 2

Before PHILLIPS, MURPHY, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. _________________________________

PHILLIPS, Circuit Judge. _________________________________

This case returns to us on remand from the Supreme Court for further

proceedings in accordance with Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic

International, Inc., 600 U.S. 412 (2023). The underlying dispute involves the

alleged infringement by Abitron, a foreign company, of U.S.-registered

trademarks owned by Hetronic, an American company. Abitron sold Hetronic-

branded products without permission to customers around the world, including

in the United States; Hetronic alleged that these sales violated its trademark-

ownership rights under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1114(1)(a), 1125(a)(1).

Deciding this appeal in 2021, we held that Lanham Act penalties

extended to Abitron’s foreign sales to foreign customers because the foreign

sales substantially affected U.S. commerce. Hetronic Int’l, Inc. v. Hetronic

Ger. GmbH, 10 F.4th 1016, 1046 (10th Cir. 2021), vacated, 600 U.S. 412

(2023). Abitron petitioned the Supreme Court for certiorari, asking the Court to

decide whether the Lanham Act may indeed apply to “purely foreign sales that

never reached the United States or confused U.S. customers.” Petition for Writ

of Certiorari, Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic Int’l, Inc., 600 U.S. 412 (No.

21-1043). The Supreme Court granted Abitron’s petition. Abitron Austria

GmbH v. Hetronic Int’l, Inc., 143 S. Ct. 398 (2022) (mem.). Considering the

2 Appellate Case: 20-6057 Document: 010111036569 Date Filed: 04/23/2024 Page: 3

extraterritoriality of the Lanham Act for the first time since the 1950s, 1 the

Court assessed whether the Lanham Act’s trademark-infringement provisions

apply to Abitron’s foreign infringing conduct. Abitron, 600 U.S. at 415. The

Court held that the provisions are not extraterritorial, but that they remain in

force when a foreign entity uses an infringing mark in domestic commerce. Id.

at 423, 428. The Court then vacated our decision and remanded the case. Id. at

428.

We requested and received supplemental briefing from the parties on the

impact of this decision and r

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