Author Archives: rtushnet

WIPIP Panel 4: Emerging Technologies

Posted on February 27, 2026 by rtushnet

The European Accent of U.S. Digital Platform Speech (Brian Downing) We are often told that self-governance by corporate platforms is better than government control, but his experience was that freedom of action wasn’t free. US gov’t defers to platforms, but … Continue reading →

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“shipping protection fee” providing no extra protection was plausibly misleading drip pricing

Posted on February 27, 2026 by rtushnet

DeMarco v. DNVB, Inc. (Thursday Boot Co.), No. 25-CV-3076 (GHW) (RFT), 2025 WL 4378637 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 5, 2025) (R&R) Thursday Boot sells shoes, apparel, handbags, and accessories on its website, which offers “free shipping and returns in the U. S.” … Continue reading →

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WIPIP Panel 3: Deepfakes, Celebrities, and Movies

Posted on February 27, 2026 by rtushnet

A Digital Right of Publicity for the AI World (Emma Perot) Prehistory: ROP covers lookalikes, soundalikes, video game avatars (at least for realism). Persona as training data. Theories of personality: users informed about use; many social media companies do not … Continue reading →

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WIPIP Panel 2: Copyright and Culture

Posted on February 27, 2026 by rtushnet

  Copyright’s Invisible Hand: Subsidizing America’s Cultural Institutions (Guy Rub) © sometimes requires payment from more intensive users, sometimes not. Exclusive rights: unbundling—buy a book to read v. buy a book to adapt to movie. Fair use is sometimes bundling: … Continue reading →

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WIPIP, BU Panel 1: Trademark Theory and Practice

Posted on February 27, 2026 by rtushnet

Trademarks, Functionality, and Competition (Glynn Lunney)          Came in late; 3d Circuit is not a good circuit for trade dress (11.8% success for claimants, almost always on functionality (71% of wins)). 5th Circuit at the other end—50% … Continue reading →

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Deadly automatic litterbox might be falsely advertised as “safe”

Posted on February 25, 2026 by rtushnet

Gomez v. PetPivot, Inc., 2026 WL 507708, No. 25-cv-5622 (LJL) (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 24, 2026) “Safe” is the kind of word that is general enough that it might be puffery, but courts think that safety is important enough that they sometimes … Continue reading →

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Amicus in support of cert in Lanham Act intent/damages case

Posted on February 24, 2026 by rtushnet

 Truth in Advertising, Barton Beebe, Mark Lemley, Alexandra Roberts and I just filed a brief arguing that the Supreme Court should clarify the role of intent in Lanham Act cases. from Blogger http://tushnet.blogspot.com/2026/02/amicus-in-support-of-cert-in-lanham-act.html

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Does “Dead Weeds in 1 Day” mean the entire weed will die, or just the visible part?

Posted on February 23, 2026 by rtushnet

Scotts Co. v. Procter & Gamble Co., 2026 WL 482655, No. 2:24-cv-4199 (S.D. Ohio Feb. 20, 2026) Previously, the court rejected Scotts’ request for a preliminary injunction of the trade dress of P&G’s Spruce brand of weed killer products, finding … Continue reading →

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(c) licensor’s claims about competitor’s allegedly worse licenses were opinion, not falsifiable fact

Posted on February 23, 2026 by rtushnet

Tresóna Multimedia, LLC v. Pre-Cleared Ltd. D/B/A ClicknClear, 2026 WL 480858, No. 25-cv-6202 (GBD) (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 19, 2026) Tresóna, a music copyright licensing entity, sued competitor ClicknClear for NY state and federal false advertising. The court dismissed the claim. Since … Continue reading →

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Fairlife brand name plausibly misleading where cows allegedly lived abuse-filled lives of suffering

Posted on February 18, 2026 by rtushnet

Bhotiwihok v. Fairlife, LLC, № 2:25-cv-01650-ODW (AGRx), 2026 WL 413749 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 13, 2026) “In 2014, Select Milk, a dairy cooperative, partnered with Coca-Cola to launch Fairlife, a company with an eponymous line of premium milk and milk products…. … Continue reading →

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