Monthly Archives: January 2019

Swinging for the fences: court finds fraud on PTO from false first use date

Posted on January 31, 2019 by rtushnet

Anello Fence, LLC v. VCA Sons, Inc., 2019 WL 351899, No. 13-3074 (JMV) (JBC) (D.N.J. Jan. 28, 2019) “This trademark case arises out of a family dispute over the use of the last name ‘Anello’ in competing outdoor fencing businesses … Continue reading →

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claim to bring original formula of another’s brand back wasn’t nominative fair use

Posted on January 26, 2019 by rtushnet

GlaxoSmithKline LLC v. Laclede, Inc., 2019 WL 293329, No. 18-CV-4945 (JMF) (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 23, 2019) Judge Furman gets another TM case; in his close adherence to precedent he demonstrates some of the current weak points in TM doctrine, here the … Continue reading →

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reality series “Love at First Flight” doesn’t infringe previous web series of same name

Posted on January 17, 2019 by rtushnet

Reflex Media, Inc. v. Pilgrim Studios, Inc., No. CV 18-2260-GW(FFMx), 2018 WL 6566561 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 27, 2018) The court here dismisses trademark/unfair competition and copyright claims against a reality TV show with the same name as Reflex’s earlier YouTube … Continue reading →

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What’s UpCounsel? LegalForce thinks it’s false advertising

Posted on January 15, 2019 by rtushnet

LegalForce RAPC Worldwide P.C. v. UpCounsel, Inc., 2019 WL 160335, No. 18-cv-02573-YGR (N.D. Cal. Jan. 10, 2019) LegalForce’s litigation against various competitors in the trademark registration world continues.  UpCounsel “is an online marketplace for legal services that enables users (primarily … Continue reading →

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FDCA preempts arguments that structure/function claims in fact mislead about disease prevention

Posted on January 11, 2019 by rtushnet

Dachauer v. NBTY, Inc., — F.3d —-, 2019 WL 150016, No. 17-16242 (9th Cir. Jan. 10, 2019) Defendants make vitamin E supplements that claim, on their labels, to “support cardiovascular health” and to “promote[ ] immune function,” “immune health,” “heart … Continue reading →

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Claims in contracts aren’t “advertising or promotion”

Posted on January 11, 2019 by rtushnet

Segerdahl Corp. v. American Litho, Inc., No. 17-cv-3015, 2019 WL 157924 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 10, 2019) This opinion deals with Lanham Act/coordinate state law counterclaims by American Litho against Segerdahl. The parties compete within the direct mail service market, a … Continue reading →

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false advertising claim needs to talk about asterisks to plead with particularity

Posted on January 8, 2019 by rtushnet

Anthony v. Pharmavite, 2019 WL 109446, No. 18-cv-02636-EMC (N.D. Cal. Jan. 4, 2019) Despite generally favorable substantive rulings for plaintiffs, the court dismisses the complaint for false advertising of a nutrition supplement for failure to plead with particularity under Rule … Continue reading →

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False claims of “original” status don’t support public interest in disseminating art for anti-SLAPP purposes

Posted on January 8, 2019 by rtushnet

Coker v. Sassone, — P.3d —-, 2019 WL 117467, 135 Nev. Adv. Op. 2, No. 73863 (Jan. 3, 2019) In the course of interpreting the Nevada anti-SLAPP law, the Nevada Supreme Court says some things about the relationship between counterfeits … Continue reading →

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Announcing the Fourth Edition of Advertising & Marketing Law: Cases & Materials by Tushnet & Goldman

Posted on January 7, 2019 by rtushnet

Eric Goldman has all the details here.  Preview:  It is available for purchase in the following formats: * A DRM-free PDF file. Price: $12* A DRM-free ePub file for mobile devices. Price: $12* In Kindle. Price: $9.99* A print-on-demand book from Amazon. Because of … Continue reading →

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Y/S/H Junior Faculty Forum, June 5-6 2019 Request for Submissions (including IP)

Posted on January 4, 2019 by rtushnet

Yale/Stanford/Harvard Junior Faculty Forum June 5-6, 2019, Yale Law School Yale, Stanford, and Harvard Law Schools announce the 20th session of the Junior Faculty Forum to be held at Yale Law School on June 5-6, 2019. The Forum’s objective is … Continue reading →

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