Author Archives: rtushnet

Business consumer can’t bring Lanham Act claim after Lexmark

Posted on September 3, 2014 by rtushnet

Locus Telecommunications, Inc. v. Talk Global, LLC, No. 14–1205, 2014 WL 4271635 (D.N.J. Aug. 28, 2014) Defendant Expansys allegedly made a false statement on a website promoting its product, personal identification numbers (“PINs”) used to add minutes to prepaid cell … Continue reading →

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religious catalog doesn’t have a prayer on trade dress claims

Posted on September 3, 2014 by rtushnet

Gerffert Co., Inc. v. Dean, — F.Supp.2d —-, 2014 WL 4258275, No. 09–CV–266 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 29, 2014) Gerffert sued Dean for infringement of its trade dress in catalogs for religious products, catalogs that featured the “iconic” artwork of Fratelli Bonella, … Continue reading →

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Breaking (season) bad: Apple’s season pass promise could violate UCL

Posted on September 3, 2014 by rtushnet

Lazebnik v. Apple, Inc., 2014 WL 4275008, No. 5:13–CV–04145 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 29, 2014) The plaintiff sued Apple for misrepresenting its Breaking Bad “season pass.”  As the court explained, “[f]rom the time Season 5 of Breaking Bad was first announced, … Continue reading →

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Distributor can be sued for direct false advertising under Lexmark

Posted on September 2, 2014 by rtushnet

Toddy Gear, Inc. v. Navarre Corp., 2014 WL 4271631,  No. 13 CV 8703 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 26, 2014) Toddy Gear makes the Toddy Smart Cloth, “a double-sided microfiber cloth with an antimicrobial coating crafted for scratch-free cleaning of extremely sensitive … Continue reading →

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Irreparable harm after Herb Reed

Posted on September 2, 2014 by rtushnet

E. & J. Gallo Winery v. Grenade Beverage LLC, No. 1:13-cv-00770 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 15, 2014) Via the Trademark Blog, this case applying Herb Reed but finding irreparable harm based on the same reasoning rejected in Herb Reed shows just … Continue reading →

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Redefining fan fiction down

Posted on September 2, 2014 by rtushnet

Neal Pollack’s article defending Amazon has many points of interest.  The only one I’ll engage with is that, contrary to the marketing, Amazon is still seeding Kindle Worlds with pro authors under contract–and apparently given advances as well as editorial … Continue reading →

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taking control: Honeywell TM, ad claims lose, (c) continue

Posted on September 2, 2014 by rtushnet

Honeywell International Inc. v. ICM Controls Corp., No. 11–569, 2014 WL 4248434 (D. Minn. Aug. 27, 2014) Honeywell sued ICM for patent infringement, copyright infringement, violation of the Lanham Act, and violation of state law.  (I will ignore the patent … Continue reading →

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#1 with a bullet: Nutribullet wins false advertising claim, but its green isn’t inherently distinctive

Posted on August 28, 2014 by rtushnet

Homeland Housewares, LLC v. Euro-Pro Operating LLC, 2014 WL 4187982, No. CV 14–03954 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 22, 2014) Homeland and Euro-Pro compete in the home blender market. Homeland sells three Nutribullet products: Classic, Sport, and Pro.  Euro-Pro sells Ninja blenders, … Continue reading →

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What does reputational harm mean? Lessons from Apple v. Samsung

Posted on August 28, 2014 by rtushnet

Apple, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., No. 12-CV-00630 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 27, 2014) Others will doubtless have much to say about the patent-specific aspects of this case, but I want to talk about what the court said about the relationship … Continue reading →

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overstating competitor’s relationship with FTC target could be defamatory

Posted on August 28, 2014 by rtushnet

Broadspring, Inc. v. Congoo, LLC, 2014 WL 4100615, No. 13–CV–1866 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 20, 2014) (by my classmate, the Honorable Jesse Furman) “This is a lawsuit between bitter rivals in the online advertising industry.” Broadspring sued Congoo and two of its … Continue reading →

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