Dewberry Group, Inc., fka Dewberry Capital Corporation, Petitioner v. Dewberry Engineers Inc.

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that under the Lanham Act, a plaintiff winning a trademark case can only collect profits from the specific company named as the defendant. The Court rejected a lower court's decision that had forced a company to pay out profits earned by its separate, non-party corporate affiliates. Justice Elena Kagan explained that the law's text specifically refers to the 'defendant’s profits,' which does not include money made by distinct legal entities not named in the suit.

This decision protects the principle of corporate separateness, ensuring that parent companies or sister affiliates aren't automatically on the hook for a single entity's legal mistakes. It prevents plaintiffs from 'reaching into the pockets' of related businesses unless they can prove the companies are actually one and the same through a difficult legal process called 'piercing the corporate veil.' For large businesses with many branches, this provides a clear shield against massive, unexpected financial penalties.

The case centers on a long-running dispute between two real estate firms, Dewberry Engineers and Dewberry Group, over the use of the 'Dewberry' name. Historically, courts have treated separate corporations as distinct 'legal persons' with their own rights and debts. This ruling reinforces that traditional boundary, stopping judges from treating a whole family of companies as a single unit just to increase a cash award.

The Court ruled 9-0 to vacate the lower court's judgment, with Justice Elena Kagan writing the majority opinion and Justice Sonia Sotomayor filing a concurring opinion.

“The District Court had no authority, in calculating a defendant’s profits, to 'simply add the revenues [of] non-parties.'”

Winning a trademark lawsuit only entitles you to the profits of the company you actually sued, not its separate corporate relatives.

The case will now return to the lower courts to recalculate the money owed based only on the named defendant's profits. Businesses should review their corporate structures to ensure their different branches are properly separated to maintain these legal protections.

The two real estate firms fought over the right to use the 'Dewberry' brand name. They had a prior agreement to limit use, but one side allegedly broke those rules.

Trademark owners can no longer expect to collect money from a defendant's entire corporate family. They must carefully choose which specific entities to sue to maximize their potential recovery.

The Court ruled that the Lanham Act's phrase 'defendant's profits' means only the profits of the party named in the lawsuit. It excludes profits from legally separate affiliates.

The case is vacated and remanded, meaning the lower court must redo the math. They must remove any affiliate profits from the original multi-million dollar award.

The ruling upholds the 'corporate veil,' a standard that treats separate companies as independent. It prevents judges from ignoring corporate boundaries just to simplify a damages calculation.