Author Archives: rtushnet

Sneak peek at the new edition of Advertising & Marketing Law: Cases and Materials

Posted on August 15, 2014 by rtushnet

Eric Goldman has put the Right of Publicity chapter from the new edition of our casebook up at SSRN.  More to come soon! http://tushnet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Posted in my writings, right of publicity, teaching | Leave a comment

Writing on a clean slate: 7th Circuit affirms dismissal of claims against Dark Knight film

Posted on August 15, 2014 by rtushnet

Fortres  Grand  Corp. v. Warner  Bros. Entertainment Inc., No. 13-2337 (7th Cir. Aug. 14, 2014) I previously discussed here the lower court opinion dismissing the infringement claim by plaintiff, a software company, against WB for imagining a similarly named software … Continue reading →

Posted in dilution, trademark | Leave a comment

business tort review: Lanham Act doesn’t cover all commercial defamation

Posted on August 14, 2014 by rtushnet

In my advertising law class, I teach that common-law business torts are both broader and narrower than the Lanham Act.  Here we have examples of both features: the scienter requirement and the lack of limitation to “commercial advertising and promotion.” … Continue reading →

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

Needs more facts: insufficient allegations of dissemination doom Lanham Act claim

Posted on August 13, 2014 by rtushnet

SB Diversified Prods., Inc. v. Murchison, No. 12cv2328, 2014 WL 3894353 (S.D. Cal. July 28, 2014) Previous opinion discussed here.  SB sued Murchison for false advertising and unfair competition, claiming that Murchison, a competitor in the squirrel trap market, made … Continue reading →

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

FTC can presume consumer reliance in contempt proceedings

Posted on August 13, 2014 by rtushnet

FTC v. BlueHippo Funding, LLC, No. 11-374-cv (2d Cir. Aug. 12, 2014) (random side note: decided two and a half years after oral argument!) The FTC appealed the damages portion of a 2010 SDNY order granting in part the FTC’s … Continue reading →

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

Reading list: copyright history

Posted on August 13, 2014 by rtushnet

Reading list: Derek Miller, Performative Performances: A History and Theory of the “Copyright Performance,” 64 Theatre Journal 161 (2012).  Miller offers an account of an episode in 19th century British copyright law when, it was generally accepted, some sort of … Continue reading →

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

court borrows limitations period from consumer protection law for Lanham Act claim

Posted on August 11, 2014 by rtushnet

Cannella v. Brennan, No. 2:12-CV-1247 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 5, 2014) Plaintiffs First Senior Financial Group, Phillip Cannella, and Joann Small sued “Watchdog,” an anonymous blogger, and Doe defendants, ultimately identifying Krista Brennan as Watchdog and the Doe defendants as Granite … Continue reading →

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

Lexmark’s effect on "commercial advertising or promotion"

Posted on August 11, 2014 by rtushnet

Syngenta Seeds, Inc. v. Bunge North America, Inc., 2014 WL 3882886, No. 13-1391 (8th Cir. Aug. 8, 2014) District court opinion discussed here.  This opinion is more Lexmark fallout.  Syngenta, a biotech company that makes genetically modified corn seed (Viptera), … Continue reading →

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

Dodged a virus and copyright liability: Court rules unused copy isn’t infringing

Posted on August 11, 2014 by rtushnet

Design Data Corp. v. Unigate Enterprise, Inc., 2014 WL 3868076, No. 12–cv–04131 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 6, 2014) The court found that defendants couldn’t be liable for copyright infringement when the only copying they ever did consisted of downloading, but not … Continue reading →

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

Product disparagement as trademark dilution?

Posted on August 11, 2014 by rtushnet

Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Braintree Laboratories, Inc., 2014 WL 3850072, No. 13–12553 (D. Mass. Aug. 4, 2014) This is mostly a false advertising case, but stick around for the weird dilution ruling.  The parties compete in the market for bowel … Continue reading →

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