Lost Profits-a Measure of Damages Law and Legal Definition
Generally, monetary relief is reserved for cases of intentional trademark infringement. The plaintiff's lost profits can be awarded as damages in a trademark lawsuit. To receive plaintiff's lost sales as damages, the plaintiff must show that if it were not for the defendant's infringing activities the plaintiff would have had a certain number of sales. However, proving this is difficult because there can be a number of reasons besides defendant's infringing use of the mark that could account for plaintiff's lost sales. A market survey is considered necessary to prove such damages.