Author Archives: rtushnet

You have to laugh or you’ll cry: supplement regulation

Posted on June 24, 2014 by rtushnet

John Oliver has yet another fantastic, and accurate, advertising law-related story, this time focusing on the deliberate unregulation of dietary supplements. http://tushnet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

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More pondering on the relationship between sec. 2 and sec. 43

Posted on June 24, 2014 by rtushnet

One question from last week’s TTAB REDSKINS decision concerns the effect on §43 if the §2 cancellation is upheld.  Mark McKenna has argued that, if we took history seriously, there should be no effect, because unfair competition historically covered lots … Continue reading →

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Is DRM the source of Hachette’s troubles?

Posted on June 20, 2014 by rtushnet

So argues Cory Doctorow.  He makes a point that also came up at the 1201 exemption hearings: the copyright owner does not clearly have the right to authorize a user to strip DRM from a work, where the copyright owner … Continue reading →

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Something fishy about this trademark claim?

Posted on June 20, 2014 by rtushnet

GurglePot, Inc. v. New Shreve, Crump & Low LLC, 2014 WL 2744283, No. C13–6029 (W.D. Wash. June 17, 2014) I’m not really interested in the law in this personal jurisdiction case, finding that there’s no personal jurisdiction in plaintiff’s home … Continue reading →

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Apply fair use to burned area

Posted on June 19, 2014 by rtushnet

Via Five Useful Articles, this deposition excerpt from HathiTrust is nearly priceless–what takes it beyond the usual snark is the very last dig the HT lawyer gets in at the Authors Guild’s theory of the case. So, HT’s lawyer snarks … Continue reading →

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"original" and "first" are mere puffery

Posted on June 18, 2014 by rtushnet

Bern Unlimited, Inc. v. Burton Corp., No. 11-12278, 2014 WL 2649006 (D. Mass. June 12, 2014) Bern sued six of its competitors in the market for sports helmets, alleging trade dress infringement.  Answering Bern’s third amended complaint, defendants asserted false … Continue reading →

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Washington’s football team registrations cancelled

Posted on June 18, 2014 by rtushnet

If you didn’t get the link from five other places, here it is.  (It turns out that today was a bad day to wear shorts to the office; it’s not the best outfit for being interviewed by a suited TV … Continue reading →

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Grande deception?

Posted on June 18, 2014 by rtushnet

Starbucks and the “free” college education for its workers: The reporting on Starbucks’ offer has gone beyond the headline—and if treated like ordinary advertising, that headline is misleading.  As it turns out, Starbucks will only pay in full for two … Continue reading →

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Fair use decisionmaking

Posted on June 18, 2014 by rtushnet

Deconstructing arguments that treat fair use as a mysterious and dangerous concept: This detailed analysis of a flowchart is quite useful. And it cites the OTW’s Fair Use Test Suite! http://tushnet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

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reading list: marijuana advertising and lessons from tobacco

Posted on June 17, 2014 by rtushnet

Kimber P. Richter, Ph.D., M.P.H. & Sharon Levy, M.D., M.P.H., Big Marijuana — Lessons from Big Tobacco, New England Journal of Medicine: [T]obacco was not always as lethal or addictive as it is today. In the 1880s, few people used … Continue reading →

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