Author Archives: rtushnet

Apple loses 230 defense to app privacy claims but still wins dismissal

Posted on May 27, 2014 by rtushnet

Opperman v. Path, Inc., 2014 WL 1973378,  No. 13-cv-00453 (N.D. Cal. May 14, 2014) This big class action against Apple and fourteen app developers has a lot of issues; I’ll try to focus on the consumer protection parts.  Plaintiffs alleged … Continue reading →

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Reading list: TM/false advertising surveys

Posted on May 23, 2014 by rtushnet

Trademark and Deceptive Advertising Surveys: Law, Science, and Design (ed. Shari Seidman Diamond & Jerre B. Swann, 2012): A collection of essays surveying various aspects of the law and offering the authors’ opinions on those aspects.  Of particular note: Itmar … Continue reading →

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Orphan works and myths of fair use

Posted on May 22, 2014 by rtushnet

Opponents of fair use have settled on a few simple arguments–fair use is too unpredictable, it’s too big (slight tension there), and it’s too American. Brandon Butler, Michael Carroll, and Peter Jaszi have taken the opportunity to rebut them in … Continue reading →

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Pom Wonderful and other misleading food claims

Posted on May 22, 2014 by rtushnet

Alan Levinovitz has a great article in Slate about scientific claims on food, which he argues are both misleading us and making us dumber.  You should read the whole thing, not least because he (perhaps with tongue in cheek?) calls … Continue reading →

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Unsubstantiated "more powerful" claim leads to more powerful recall

Posted on May 21, 2014 by rtushnet

Groupe SEB USA, Inc v. Euro-Pro Operating LLC, 2014 WL 2002126, No. 14–137 (W.D. Pa. May 15, 2014) (magistrate judge) Previous opinion.  Here, the court grants a preliminary injunction against certain statements found to be literally false. The parties compete … Continue reading →

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

Water wars: lack of secondary meaning precludes injunction

Posted on May 21, 2014 by rtushnet

Buzz Bee Toys, Inc. v. Swimways Corp., — F.Supp.2d —- (2014), 2014 WL 2006799, No. 14–1948 (D.N.J. May 15, 2014) Here, the court found likely confusion predicated on the near identity between the parties’ product configurations, but denied a preliminary … Continue reading →

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Slate on GMO labeling

Posted on May 20, 2014 by rtushnet

Slate’s story focuses on the question of the cost of labels.  If it’s just ink, the cost is virtually zero. However, if labeling changes consumer behavior (or retailer behavior), costs may change substantially.  The story, perplexingly, doesn’t discuss the question … Continue reading →

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When is help with a free process worth $80?

Posted on May 20, 2014 by rtushnet

Charging $80 to fill out a free application for student aid?  Vox has a story about two websites that do so, using official sounding domain names.  Shades of DMV.org.  The story claims that the federal government’s recent registration of a … Continue reading →

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Even big businesses need consumer protection law

Posted on May 19, 2014 by rtushnet

American Demolition and Nuclear Decommissioning, Inc. v. IBCS Group, Inc., 2014 WL 1906791, No. 3:11CV00078 (W.D. Va. May 13, 2014) ADND (now there’s an acronym!) is a New York corporation that provides demolition, decommissioning, and environmental remediation services. In 2009, … Continue reading →

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New article: More than a Feeling: Emotion and the First Amendment

Posted on May 16, 2014 by rtushnet

127 Harv. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2014). Abstract: First Amendment law has generally been leery of government attempts to change the marketplace of emotions—except when it has not been. Scientific evidence indicates that emotion and rationality are not opposed, as the … Continue reading →

Posted in commercial speech, defamation, dilution, disclosures, first amendment, my writings, trademark | Leave a comment