Page:Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic International, Inc..pdf/27

Rh the statutory provisions. Like the Court’s analysis at step one, this inquiry is contextual; the Court “do[es] not analyze the provision at issue in a vacuum.” WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp., 585 U. S. ___, ___ (2018) (slip op., at 6). Rather, the Court looks at the provision “in concert” with other relevant provisions and considers “how the statute has actually been applied.” Ibid. The aim of determining the statutory focus is to assess what constitutes a domestic application of the statute. An application is domestic when the object of the statute’s focus is found in, or occurs in, the United States. See, e.g., Morrison, 561 U. S., at 266–267, 273 (where the “focus of the Exchange Act” is “purchases and sales of securities,” there is no domestic application of the statute when those purchases and securities “occurred outside the United States,” regardless of “the place where the deception originated”).

The parties offer different interpretations of the focus of §§32(1)(a) and 43(a)(1)(A). Petitioners argue that the focus of the statute is the “use” of the mark “in commerce.” Brief for Petitioners 39. Under petitioners’ theory, the Lanham Act does not reach any infringing products sold abroad; instead, the defendant must sell the products directly into the United States. Id., at 44–45. Respondent, by contrast, argues that the Act has two distinct focuses: protecting mark owners from reputational harm and protecting consumers from confusion. Brief for Respondent 45–48. Under respondent’s view, reputational harm to the mark owner “is not necessarily tied to the locus of [consumer] confusion or the locus of the [defendant’s] conduct.” Id., at 47. Instead, respondent asserts, harm to a mark owner’s reputation “is felt where [the mark owner] resides.” Ibid. The Government, as amicus curiae supporting neither party, offers a middle ground. In its view, the focus of the statute is consumer confusion. See Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 14 (United States Brief). Accordingly, “[w]here such effects are likely to occur in the United States, application