Monthly Archives: December 2014

It’s all about control: how to get a survey excluded

Posted on December 11, 2014 by rtushnet

First Data Merchant Services Corp. v. SecurityMetrics, Inc., No. RDB–12–2568, 2014 WL 6871581 (D. Md. Dec. 3, 2014) This is a motion to exclude in a false advertising/antitrust case. “This origins of this contentious case lie in a soured business … Continue reading →

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Public Knowledge on the monkey selfie threat letter

Posted on December 11, 2014 by rtushnet

Sherwin Siy, bringing just enough snark in reply to the camera-owner’s demand letter.  http://tushnet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

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Reading list: Putting Intellectual Property in Its Place

Posted on December 11, 2014 by rtushnet

Laura J. Murray, S. Tina Piper, & Kirsty Robertson, Putting Intellectual Property in Its Place: Rights Discourses, Creative Labor, and the Everyday: Coming at roughly the same time as Jessica Silbey’s The Eureka Myth, this book, like Silbey’s, challenges IP … Continue reading →

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Reading list: facts versus opinions in mandatory disclosure

Posted on December 11, 2014 by rtushnet

Daniel E. Herz-Roiphe, Stubborn Things: An Empirical Approach to Facts, Opinions, and the First Amendment From the intro: [This] essay reports the results of an original survey that presented respondents with the actual disclosures at issue in a number of … Continue reading →

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When is a 13-year discrepancy immaterial?

Posted on December 10, 2014 by rtushnet

According to the UK ASA, when it’s the difference between 1860 and 1873 as the confirmed date of a bakery’s founding: “We understood that their competitors were much younger, with the oldest having been founded in 1949 and so Warrens … Continue reading →

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False advertising claims not arbitrable when ads predated agreement

Posted on December 9, 2014 by rtushnet

Mohebbi v. Khazen, Case No. 13-cv-03044, 2014 WL 6845477 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 4, 2014) Mohebbi sued Khazen over Mohebbi’s agreement to invest over $1 million in a partnership in exchange for defendants’ help in getting him qualified for the federal … Continue reading →

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Garcia v. Google thoughts: input welcome!

Posted on December 8, 2014 by rtushnet

Along with many others, Shyamkrishna Balganesh, Justin Hughes, Peter Menell, and David Nimmer submitted an amicus in Garcia v. Google making a number of interesting arguments; I’m generally sympathetic to the idea that we should be more flexible about joint … Continue reading →

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ABA teleconference on irreparable harm in Lanham Act false advertising cases

Posted on December 8, 2014 by rtushnet

I’ll be participating in this teleconference, 12 pm EST on December 12.  http://tushnet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

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A case peppered with TM and advertising issues

Posted on December 8, 2014 by rtushnet

United Tactical Systems v. Real Action Paintball, Inc., 2014 WL 6788310, No. 14-cv-04050 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 2, 2014) UTS sued RAP4 mostly over the trademark PepperBall; the court granted a preliminary injunction based on some of its claims.  Nonparty PepperBall … Continue reading →

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Religion isn’t (yet) a defense to false advertising

Posted on December 8, 2014 by rtushnet

State v. Valerie Saxion, Inc., 2014 WL 6839970, No. 02–13–00227 (Tex. Ct. App. Dec. 4, 2014) Valerie Saxion argued that her free speech (and RFRA) rights were being violated by the state’s pursuit of claims against her and her company … Continue reading →

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