But, appeals aside, the court's ruling makes it so. You go to court hoping the system sides with you. If it does then you take your win and you move on. If it doesn't side with you, you can't just say, "Oh well... your ruling doesn't count." You gotta take it for what it is. If in the process of making your claim you have damaged the name of your opponent then it seems fair to me that you should have to do something about that. It kind of falls into the same thinking that the loser in a case can be made to pay for the winner's legal fees and what not.