Author Archives: rtushnet

Dastar bars false advertising claim based on patent filing

Posted on December 12, 2014 by rtushnet

Akzo Nobel Surface Chemistry LLC v. Stern, 2014 WL 6910212, No. 2:13–CV–00826 (S.D. Ohio Dec. 8, 2014) Akzo makes specialty chemicals, including adjuvants, which are additives that modify the properties of the main ingredient in formulations.  Stern was formerly employed … Continue reading →

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Actual confusion irrelevant when Rogers v. Grimaldi applies

Posted on December 12, 2014 by rtushnet

Mil-Spec Monkey, Inc. v. Activision Blizzard, Inc., No. 14-cv-02361 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 24, 2014)  MSM alleged that the video game Call of Duty: Ghosts made infringing use of MSM’s “angry monkey” mark, “among the most popular morale patch designs” MSM … Continue reading →

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plaintiff must identify elements of trade dress, specific false claims

Posted on December 12, 2014 by rtushnet

Homeland Housewares, LLC v. Euro-Pro Operating LLC, 2014 WL 6892141, No. CV 14–03954 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 5, 2014) Previously, the court granted a preliminary injunction on certain false advertising claims and refused to stop the plaintiff from publicizing that.  Now … Continue reading →

Posted in http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, trademark | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in commercial speech, disclosures, first amendment, reading list | Leave a comment

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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