LHO Chicago River, LLC v. Rosemoor Suites, LLC

LHO Chicago River, LLC (LHO) (plaintiff) owned a hotel that was rebranded in 2014 as Hotel Chicago. Two years later, Joseph Perillo, Rosemoor Suites, LLC, Portfolio Hotels & Resorts, and Chicago Hotel, LLC (collectively, Rosemoor) (defendants) opened a property named Hotel Chicago near the LHO-owned hotel. Before LHO was aware of any plans for another Hotel Chicago, an LHO executive expressed by email that LHO could not trademark “Hotel Chicago.” LHO then spent significant effort marketing and promoting the hotel. LHO sued Rosemoor in federal district court for trademark claims under the Lanham Act. During the proceedings, LHO moved for a preliminary injunction. The magistrate court and the district court disagreed on whether LHO had established a likelihood of success on the merits, and the district court ultimately declined to order an injunction. LHO eventually withdrew its case. Rosemoor filed a motion seeking attorney’s fees under § 1117(a) of the Lanham Act, which permitted the recovery of fees by the prevailing party in exceptional cases. The district court denied Rosemoor’s motion for attorney’s fees, finding the case was not exceptional because there was no abuse of process. Rosemoor appealed. The court of appeals held that the district court applied an improper test to determine whether attorney’s fees should be granted and remanded the case. On remand, the district court again found that the case was not exceptional and denied the request for attorney’s fees under § 1117(a). Rosemoor appealed.