Monthly Archives: July 2014

COOL story, part 3: dissents

Posted on July 31, 2014 by rtushnet

Judge Henderson dissented, believing the question of Zauderer’s appropriate scope to have been resolved in R.J. Reynolds and unfairly revisited. Judge Brown also dissented, quite vigorously. Under the majority’s reasoning, “a business owner no longer has a constitutionally protected right … Continue reading →

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COOL story, part 2: concurrences

Posted on July 31, 2014 by rtushnet

AMI continued: concurrences Judge Rogers concurred in part.  She wrote to disassociate herself from the suggested collapse of Central Hudsonand Zauderer.  “Viewing Zaudereras simply an application of Central Hudson to special circumstances … finds support in neither Supreme Court precedent … Continue reading →

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COOL story, part 1: DC Circuit upholds country of origin labeling rule

Posted on July 31, 2014 by rtushnet

American Meat Institute v. U.S. Dep’t of Agriculture, No. 13-5281 (D.C. Cir. July 29, 2014) The D.C. Circuit here, en banc, upholds country of origin labeling (COOL) requirements for meat, and in the process holds that Zauderer’s standard for compelled … Continue reading →

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Second Circuit reiterates presumptions of harm, damages in literal falsity case

Posted on July 31, 2014 by rtushnet

Merck Eprova AG v. Gnosis S.p.A., No. 12‐4218 (2d Cir. July 29, 2014)  Merck won a false advertising case against Gnosis, and the court awarded it over $500,000 in damages, over $2 million in attorneys’ fees and costs, and prejudgment … Continue reading →

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false advertising about design in the absence of secondary meaning?

Posted on July 31, 2014 by rtushnet

Brian Lichtenberg, LLC v. Alex & Chloe, Inc., No. CV 13–06837, 2014 WL 3698317 (C.D. Cal. July 25, 2014) Brian Lichtenberg (Brian) designs clothing and accessories, including parodies of designer brands, such as “Homiès” as a play on “Hermès” and … Continue reading →

Posted in defamation, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, trade secrets, trademark | Leave a comment

IP norms and a bit on IRBs

Posted on July 29, 2014 by rtushnet

Via Jason Schultz in Jotwell, I learned of a great new paper by Julia Bauer et al. on community norms about copying and anticopying enforcement in the Threadless (crowdsourced T-shirt) community.  There are many interesting results, including the evidence they … Continue reading →

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Music you can’t get in a library

Posted on July 29, 2014 by rtushnet

Planning for musical obsolescence: How digital licensing is destroying our ability to preserve history. Excerpt: When one goes to the LA Philharmonic site about this recording of Symphonie Fantastique and tries to purchase it, one is directed to the iTunes … Continue reading →

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court says Lexmark doesn’t change trademark harm standard

Posted on July 28, 2014 by rtushnet

Reynolds Consumer Prods. Inc. v. Handi-Foil Corp., No. 1:13–CV–214, 2014 WL 3615853 (E.D. Va. July 18, 2014) A jury found Handi-Foil liable for willful infringement of Reynolds’ unregistered trade dress, but in favor of Handi-Foil on all other accounts (including … Continue reading →

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Yelp statements about its filters not protected by anti-SLAPP law or CDA

Posted on July 25, 2014 by rtushnet

Demetriades v. Yelp, Inc., 2014 WL 3661491, No. B247151 (Cal. Ct. App. July 24, 2014) Demetriades operates restaurants and sued Yelp under California’s UCL and FAL based on claims about the accuracy and efficacy of its “filter” of unreliable or … Continue reading →

Posted in 230, california, commercial speech, consumer protection, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post | Leave a comment

Transformative work of the day

Posted on July 25, 2014 by rtushnet

Pando.com publishes an entire issue of Reason magazine that’s not available in Reason’s online archives “for reasons that will become obvious”–it’s an entire special issue devoted to WWII “revisionism” and Holocaust denial.  Talk to me about fair use factor three! … Continue reading →

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