Monthly Archives: June 2016

TM roundtable, part 2

Posted on June 9, 2016 by rtushnet

Session 1, cont’d Mid-Point Discussants:  Mark Janis: The functionality doctrine is not good at doing the work we’re expecting it to do, both in trade dress and design patents.  Recurrent difficulties: tendency for decisionmakers to revert to de facto functionality … Continue reading →

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TM Scholars’ Roundtable, part one

Posted on June 9, 2016 by rtushnet

Trademark Scholars’ Roundtable, Boston University   Session 1:  Product Design Protection and Trademark First Principles Given what we know about the costs and benefits of using trademark/unfair competition law to protect product design, is the whole enterprise worth the candle?  … Continue reading →

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Two older cases finding fair use of film clips

Posted on June 6, 2016 by rtushnet

Equals Three, LLC v. Jukin Media, Inc., 139 F. Supp. 3d 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2015)|    Just showed up in Westclip; another datum for the “video clip usage can be fair use” pile.  Jukin amasses a library of user-generated internet … Continue reading →

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business challenges BBB’s claims about itself, lacks Lexmark standing

Posted on June 6, 2016 by rtushnet

Wall & Associates, Inc. v. Better Business Bureau of Central Virginia, Inc. 2016 WL 3087055, No. 1:16-cv-119 (E.D. Va. May 31, 2016)   Wall runs a tax settlement business that received low ratings from several regional BBBs, so it sued … Continue reading →

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Belmora doesn’t extend to US users; copying a nonfamous foreign mark isn’t bad faith

Posted on June 3, 2016 by rtushnet

Paleteria La Michoacana, Inc. v. Productos Lacteos Tocumbo S.A. De C.V., 2016 WL 3034150,  No. 11–1623 (D.D.C. May 27, 2016)   Help me out here: it seems to me that the court here cancels a registration based on a claim … Continue reading →

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Trademark question of the day

Posted on June 2, 2016 by rtushnet

And given the extent of protection for characters, possibly a copyright question as well: is the following pajama set, seen on vacation, infringing? from Blogger http://ift.tt/1Xlg0wd

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“purest” is puffery and Himala- is too geographically descriptive to cause confusion

Posted on June 2, 2016 by rtushnet

Sustainable Sourcing, LLC v. Brandstorm, Inc., 2016 WL 3064055, No. 12-cv-30093 (D. Mass. May 31, 2016)   The parties compete to sell Himalayan pink salt.  Sustainable Sourcing created an image showing a box of its pink salt, surrounded by bowls … Continue reading →

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Music Licensing conference at NYU, June 17

Posted on June 1, 2016 by rtushnet
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FTC workshop on disclosures, Sept. 15

Posted on June 1, 2016 by rtushnet

Putting Disclosures to the Test SEP 15, 2016 CONSTITUTION CENTER 400 7th St SW, Washington, DC 20024   EVENT DESCRIPTION The Federal Trade Commission will host a public workshop in Washington, DC on September 15, 2016 to examine the testing … Continue reading →

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