Author Archives: rtushnet

False endorsement: some bad questions to ask in a survey

Posted on February 23, 2018 by rtushnet

Gibson v. BTS North, Inc., 2018 WL 888872, No. 16-24548 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 14, 2018) Plaintiffs are professional models, actresses, and/or businesswoman who earn their livings by promoting her image, likeness, and/or identity to select clients, commercial brands, media, and … Continue reading →

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Zazzle injunction reversed: irreparable harm is hard to show

Posted on February 23, 2018 by rtushnet

Greg Young Pub’g, Inc. v. Zazzle, Inc., No. 16-cv-04587 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 8, 2018) After a jury trial finding Zazzle liable for copyright infringement for producing goods with user-uploaded images, the court granted a preliminary injunction. Here, it vacates that … Continue reading →

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The other Redbox case: the color may fade, but not the mark

Posted on February 23, 2018 by rtushnet

Redbox Automated Retail, LLC v. Xpress Retail LLC, 2018 WL 950098, No. 17 C 5596 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 20, 2018) Redbox sued defendant DVDXpress alleging trademark infringement and false advertising; DVDXpress moved to dismiss and asserted counterclaims/affirmative defenses, some of … Continue reading →

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Reading list: global fair use

Posted on February 23, 2018 by rtushnet

Lionel Bently and Tanya Aplin, Whatever Became of Global, Mandatory, Fair Use? A Case Study in Dysfunctional Pluralism The international copyright system requires all participants to recognise a freedom for fair quotation that covers much of the ground encompassed by … Continue reading →

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WIPIP concurrent 3 (most of it)

Posted on February 17, 2018 by rtushnet

Annemarie Bridy, Fearless Girl Meets Charging Bull: Copyright and the Regulation of Intertextuality DiModica (who made Charging Bull) complained that Fearless Girl’s placement created an unauthorized derivative work and violated VARA by being a material alteration that prejudiced his honor—Charging … Continue reading →

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WIPIP Concurrent 2

Posted on February 16, 2018 by rtushnet

Nancy Kim, The License v. Sale Puzzle after Impressions v. Lexmark Sales exhaust the patentee’s rights to any item regardless of what the contract says. But restrictions on licensees are different because a license doesn’t implicate the same concerns about … Continue reading →

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WIPIP panel one: TM tarnishment and (c)

Posted on February 16, 2018 by rtushnet

[title fixed because I can’t keep seasons straight] Suneal Bedi, Bad Brands: Experimental Studies in Trademark Tarnishment What is the reputation of a mark?  Working on PhD in marketing at Penn; marketing is the best discipline to answer this Q.  … Continue reading →

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WIPIP: Opening plenary

Posted on February 16, 2018 by rtushnet

WIPIP Plenary [Standard disclaimer: these are just my notes; I miss stuff or it’s about patents and I don’t necessarily get it; I also have to pick and choose from many attractive panels and this year I’m only at the … Continue reading →

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court awards sanctions for misrepresenting website as independent review site in false advertising case

Posted on February 16, 2018 by rtushnet

Purple Innovation, LLC v. Honest Reviews, LLC, 2018 WL 840035, No. 17-cv-138 (D. Utah Feb. 12, 2018) A rare sanctions order in a false advertising case, in which the court grants sanctions based on the defendants’ submission of misleading and … Continue reading →

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Settlements allowing competitors to use term doesn’t insulate Clorox from its own possible deception

Posted on February 13, 2018 by rtushnet

Gregorio v. Clorox Co., 2018 WL 732673, No. 17-cv-03824 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 6, 2018) Gregorio alleged that, to capitalize on consumer demand for “natural” home cleaning products, Clorox falsely advertised its “Green Works” cleaning products as “natural” or “naturally derived.” … Continue reading →

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