Judge Recommends $500,000 Damage Award for Marriott Robocaller

Marriott International is entitled to $500,000 in statutory damages against defendant Dynasty Marketing Group (DMG) for willfully infringing Marriott’s trademark by impersonating Marriott telemarketers in its robocalling phone solicitations (see 2212300004), said a report and recommendation signed Monday by U.S. Magistrate Judge John Anderson for Eastern Virginia in Alexandria.

Anderson also recommends the court grant Marriott’s motion for summary judgment against DMG and an injunction be entered enjoining DMG from future conduct that infringes Marriott’s trademarks, said his report. The parties have 14 days to file an opposition, it said.

Marriott is entitled to summary judgment on its trademark infringement and trademark counterfeiting claims, said the report. Marriott demonstrated it has “a valid, protectible trademark,” it said. DMG admitted to using the identical mark in commerce without Marriott’s authorization, it said. DMG's use of the mark “is likely to cause confusion,” because DMG was using that identical mark “to market travel and vacation packages, which is the same industry as plaintiff's business,” it said.

Marriott is seeking maximum statutory damages of $2 million for DMG’s willful trademark violations, and Anderson agrees DMG “recklessly disregarded that its conduct represented infringement,” and therefore its conduct was willful, said his report. But “mitigating factors” suggest an award of the maximum damages “is not appropriate in this case,” it said.

Maximum statutory damages “are typically used for the most egregious offenders,” said the report. DMG principal Bruno Borra testified in his deposition his company used the Marriott name in its telemarketing scripts for only six months through June 2021, and it stopped doing so when a data company warned that conduct might be infringement, it said.

Marriott alleges various defendants, since October 2018, “collectively delivered an estimated 71.2 million robocalls purporting to be from Marriott to consumers” throughout the U.S., said the report. Marriott estimates DMG was responsible for 3.9 million of those calls, or less than 6% of the total, it said.

DMG’s infringing conduct resulted in about 1,000 vacation bookings for DMG, said the report. The dollar amount of those bookings ranged $450 to $5,600, with the median being around $1,000, it said. Anderson concluded any statutory award of more than $500,000 “could result in a significant windfall” for Marriott, it said. Anderson believes a $500,000 award “provides an adequate deterrent, and it is just under all the circumstances,” said his report.