Author Archives: rtushnet

Website statements aren’t trade dress for insurance purposes

Posted on June 27, 2014 by rtushnet

Test Masters Educational Services, Inc. v. State Farm Lloyds, 2014 WL 2854536, No. H–13–1706 (S.D. Tex. June 23, 2014) Test Masters offers test prep services.  It was involved in a series of lawsuits by and against third party competitor Singh.  … Continue reading →

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multiplicity of products and labels makes class unascertainable

Posted on June 27, 2014 by rtushnet

Bruton v. Gerber Products Co., No. 12-CV-02412, 2014 WL 2860995 (N.D. Cal. June 23, 2014) Bruton brought the usual California claims against Gerber for mislabeling certain food products intended for children under 2. She challenged Gerber’s nutrient content claims and … Continue reading →

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Class can be certified when product is allegedly worthless

Posted on June 25, 2014 by rtushnet

Ortega v. Natural Balance, Inc., 2014 WL 2782329, No. CV 13–5942  (C.D. Cal. June 19, 2014) The court granted class certification for a California class of consumers of Cobra Sexual Energy, a dietary supplement containing various herbs, extracts, and other … Continue reading →

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UK ASA finds ad for journalistic Free Speech Network misleading

Posted on June 25, 2014 by rtushnet

Tragedy or farce?  I’ll take “couldn’t happen in the US” for $500, Alex. http://tushnet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

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Nonprofit’s former chapter has false advertising, not TM, claims against parent

Posted on June 25, 2014 by rtushnet

Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center, Inc. v. Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association, Inc. 981 F. Supp. 2d 153 (E.D.N.Y. 2013) Plaintiff ADRC is the former Long Island chapter of defendant Association, dedicated to fighting Alzheimer’s.  In 1998, the parties entered … Continue reading →

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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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