Author Archives: rtushnet

No nominative fair use or dilution dismissals if plaintiff pleads the elements?

Posted on June 11, 2014 by rtushnet

Valley Forge Military Academy Found. v. Valley Forge Old Guard, Inc., No. 09–2373, 2014 WL 2476115 (E.D. Pa. Jun. 2, 2014) Nominative fair use doesn’t have to work this badly, guys! Valley Forge Military Academy Foundation operates the Valley Forge … Continue reading →

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islands in the stream: Netflix v. Verizon

Posted on June 11, 2014 by rtushnet

Netflix responds to Verizon’s C&D. For those not keeping track, it started when Netflix started sending error message to certain Verizon customers experiencing playback difficulties, telling them that the Verizon network was slow. Verizon responded angrily, threatening suit and demanding … Continue reading →

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Tough sledding: statements to industry-focused publication can be commercial speech

Posted on June 11, 2014 by rtushnet

Skedco, Inc. v. ARC Products, LLC, 2014 WL 2465577, No. 3:13–CV–00696 (D. Or. Jun. 2, 2014) The parties compete in the market for emergency medical rescue equipment, and are suing over false advertising. Plaintiff’s Sked is “an evacuation sled system … Continue reading →

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Is embedded advertising any good?

Posted on June 11, 2014 by rtushnet

Negative take on “native advertising” from a purely advertiser-focused viewpoint. The author’s basic argument is that native advertising is essentially by definition unlikely to generate positive brand attention, because who the sponsor is will be forgettable. Query whether the “mere … Continue reading →

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A little bit pregnant: miscounting pregnancy duration as false advertising

Posted on June 11, 2014 by rtushnet

Church & Dwight Co. v. SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics, GMBH, No. 14 Civ. 00585, 2014 WL 2526965 (S.D.N.Y. June 3, 2014) C&D sued SPD for false advertising over its pregnancy test advertising. The court denied SPD’s motion to dismiss. The … Continue reading →

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Copyright Society: first sale

Posted on June 10, 2014 by rtushnet

Digital First Sale Panelists: Karyn T. Claggett, U.S. Copyright Office History repeating: we studied digital first sale before studying digital first sale was cool.  PTO is now having a series of roundtables on these issues—next will be in Boston, June … Continue reading →

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Copyright Society: recent developments (but not the most recent)

Posted on June 10, 2014 by rtushnet

This panel had the misfortune to occur just as the Second Circuit released HathiTrust.  More on that to come, obviously. Recent Developments in Copyright Law Panelists: Robert W. Clarida, Reitler Kailas & Rosenblatt LLC Thomas Kjellberg, Cowan Liebowitz & Latman, … Continue reading →

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Copyright Society: Representative Judy Chu

Posted on June 10, 2014 by rtushnet

Keynote Speaker: Congresswomen Judy Chu (D-CA) (House Judiciary, IP Subcommittee) There can be bipartisan agreement; there’s no obvious Democratic/Republican point of view, and we could get something done.  Copyright is important in her district—Pasadena/LA.  Influenced by entertainment industry, not with … Continue reading →

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Copyright Society: politics!

Posted on June 10, 2014 by rtushnet

The 21st-Century Copyright Office    (I know, but really, this panel is almost all about forum shopping and maneuvering to make sure that the people who have always made copyright policy continue to do so.  It’s important.) Moderator: Jacqueline Charlesworth, U.S. … Continue reading →

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Pet (food) sounds

Posted on June 10, 2014 by rtushnet

I’m quoted in this St. Louis Post-Dispatch story about the Purina v. Blue Buffalo pet food dispute. http://tushnet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

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