Recent decisions of the Federal Court have called into question the long-standing practice of applying a damages scale in trade-mark proceedings where the defendant is in default. The Federal Court has for some time struggled, particularly in default proceedings, to balance the objectives of fairly compensating a trade-mark owner for infringement of its rights against the principle that damages must be proven, not assessed arbitrarily or in the abstract. These recent decisions have emphasized the principle that damages must be proven and have resulted in a trend to lower awards. Published in Intellectual Property Journal, Federated Press, 2014, Volume XIX, No. 4.