Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc.
United States Supreme Court
532 U.S. 424 (2001)
Relevant factsFree
After Cooper (defendant) copied and promoted a multi-tool product modeled on Leatherman's (plaintiff) PST before manufacturing its own version, a jury awarded Leatherman $50,000 in compensatory and $4.5 million in punitive damages following an instruction that intentional copying was wrongful; the district court and Ninth Circuit upheld the punitive award under an abuse-of-discretion standard, and Cooper petitioned for certiorari on the proper review standard.
IssueFree
Whether appellate review of the constitutionality of a punitive damages award should be conducted under the abuse of discretion standard.