After the trade show, Leatherman Tool Group filed a civil suit against Cooper Industries asserting claims of trade-dress infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising under the Lanham Act and a common-law claim of unfair competition for advertising and selling an imitation.

In October 1997, a federal jury returned a verdict against Cooper Industries on the false advertising, imitation, and unfair competition claims and assessed damages.

Because the Court itself has recognized that determining if a fine is grossly excessive is "inherently imprecise" Gore held that it was necessary to evaluate a number of factors.

Instead of merely deciding whether the lower court had abused its judicial discretion, the punitive damages should be reviewed in their entirety.

On remand to the Ninth Circuit, applying the de novo review standard the Appeals court reduced the punitive damages to $500,000.00.