Monthly Archives: January 2014

the trademark joke is a tricky beast

Posted on January 8, 2014 by rtushnet

For example: Me: Hi I’d like some cocaine please Dealer: is pepsicane ok? http://tushnet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

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Bumble Bee pushes the envelope, finds lawsuit inside

Posted on January 7, 2014 by rtushnet

Ogden v. Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, No. 12-CV-01828, 2014 WL 27527 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 2, 2014) I’m trying to do less food claim blogging, but I noted this case because of the summary judgment submissions, which contain interesting evidence about … Continue reading →

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advertising law exam in 140 characters or less

Posted on January 7, 2014 by rtushnet

Film critic’s tweet turned into ad without his consent: violation of the right of publicity?  Grounds for a false endorsement claim?  Or just standard practice for publishers’/studios’ use of reviews?  (This ad is for a product itself protected by the … Continue reading →

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Guest post: Betsy Rosenblatt on the case of Sherlock Holmes’ two lives

Posted on January 6, 2014 by rtushnet

Klinger v. Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd., No. 13-cv-01226 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 23, 2013)   I’m going to turn this over to Betsy Rosenblatt, current colleague/head of the legal committee of the Organization for Transformative Works and Assistant Professor of Law/Director, Center … Continue reading →

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The Cadillac of nominative fair use questions

Posted on January 6, 2014 by rtushnet

Check out the tagline for this Thermador ad: “The Swiss Army Knife® for the Culinary Obsessive.”  In the mouseprint footnote, there’s a link to the Thermador website and the statement “® Swiss Army is a registered trademark of Victorinox AG … Continue reading →

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Transformative work of the day

Posted on January 6, 2014 by rtushnet

Parody of Let it Go from Frozen: the rare parody that focuses on song structure.  I’m tempted to suggest that even the music publishers would have to call this one fair use, but that would be unrealistic. http://tushnet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

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is political use of 9/11 images fair use?

Posted on January 6, 2014 by rtushnet

North Jersey Media Group Inc. v. SarahPAC, No. 13-cv-06494 S.D.N.Y. filed Oct.7, 2013 Sarah Palin used a photo of firefighters raising a flag at Ground Zero on 9/11 in her 2013 Facebook post labeled “Never forget.”  She was sued for … Continue reading →

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a tasty copyright analogy

Posted on January 6, 2014 by rtushnet

Jonathan Lethem on the overexpansion of copyright rights, from an author who depends in part on copyright for his living: “It’s like there’s ten miles of frosting on a cake. I like the cake, I might cling to the cake, … Continue reading →

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News for storage jars containing sugar

Posted on January 2, 2014 by rtushnet

The NYT discusses searches for new sugar substitutes, along with legal/advertising aspects of their promotion: [W]hat about the consumers who are drawn to “natural” claims — will they still go for stevia when it flows from a vat of G.M.O.’s? … Continue reading →

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possible profit recovery means TM case continues

Posted on January 2, 2014 by rtushnet

It’s a 10, Inc. v. Beauty Elite Group, Inc., 2013 WL 6834804, No. 13–60154 (S.D. Fla. Dec. 23, 2013) Previous discussion.  Plaintiff sells It’s a 10 Miracle Leave in Product for hair: Defendant’s directly competing product was allegedly confusingly similar … Continue reading →

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