Author Archives: rtushnet

pregnancy center isn’t commercial speaker; common sense can’t justify mandated disclosure

Posted on March 14, 2014 by rtushnet

Centro Tepeyac v. Montgomery County, No. DKC 10–1259, 2014 WL 923230 (D. Md. Mar. 7, 2014) The court enjoins Montgomery County’s attempts to make an anti-abortion counseling center conspicuously disclose that they don’t have medical personnel on staff and that … Continue reading →

Posted in commercial speech, disclosures, first amendment | Leave a comment

Texas anti-SLAPP law doesn’t protect lawyer’s ads

Posted on March 14, 2014 by rtushnet

NCDR, L.L.C. v. Mauze & Bagby, P.L.L.C., 2014 WL 941049, — F.3d —- (5th Cir. Mar. 11, 2014) M&B, a Texas law firm, solicited former dental patients from plaintiff Kool Smiles’ dental clinics as potential clients.  Allegedly, “M&B ran television, … Continue reading →

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

Uncertainty over trade dress triggered insurer’s duty to defend

Posted on March 14, 2014 by rtushnet

Bridge Metal Indus., LLC v. The Travelers Indemnity Co., No. 11–4228, 2014 WL 928876 (2d Cir. Mar. 11, 2014) The court of appeals affirmed the district court decision finding trade dress to be “title” for purposes of an advertising injury … Continue reading →

Posted in insurance, trademark | Leave a comment

Competitor that operates review website not protected by 230

Posted on March 14, 2014 by rtushnet

Moving & Storage, Inc. v. Panayotov, No. 12–12262, 2014 WL 949830 (D. Mass. Mar. 12, 2014) Here’s one of the §230 situations that fascinates me.  Defendants operate a moving company review website, MyMovingReviews.com … and their own moving company.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in 230, copyright, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, tortious interference, trademark | Leave a comment

House DMCA hearing part 2

Posted on March 13, 2014 by rtushnet

This is the question period.  I note just how many people in this conversation assumed that the technology behind Content ID could magically and easily be rolled out (costlessly?) for every form of content and every site online.  Echoes of … Continue reading →

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

House DMCA hearing part 1

Posted on March 13, 2014 by rtushnet

House Judiciary DMCA Hearing. (Links on names go to testimony.)Rep. Goodlatte: Unanticipated: volume of notices plus reappearance of content. Adequacy of notice is an issue. Fraudulent notices with little risk of penalty are also a problem, though a low percent. … Continue reading →

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Transformative work of the day: SVU edition

Posted on March 13, 2014 by rtushnet

Carmen Maria Machado, Especially Heinous: 272 Views of Law & Order SVU: A sf/meta novella based on SVU. Though it’s not in the style of the average piece of fan fiction, I will note that certain popular pairings do appear. … Continue reading →

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Transformative work of the day, Frozen edition

Posted on March 12, 2014 by rtushnet

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/2bVAoVlFYf0&source=uds What happens when you run the lyrics of “Let It Go” through several Google Translate languages, then back to English?  (My favorite part is the singer visibly preventing herself from singing the signature line correctly.) http://tushnet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

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

NYT on finessing FDA label requirements

Posted on March 12, 2014 by rtushnet

Oreo’s “Cookie Dough” Oreo has neither chocolate chips nor cookie dough.  “Compliance” with FDA labeling requirements is achieved (says Oreo) by the use of “flavor creme” in smaller type on the packaging, plus “chocolatey” chips since the chips don’t meet … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, fda | Leave a comment

unjust enrichment claim preempted once patent claim fails

Posted on March 12, 2014 by rtushnet

Medisim Ltd. v. BestMed LLC, 959 F. Supp. 2d 396 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) Previous opinions in this case between thermometer competitors, mostly addressing trademark issues now out of the case (I skipped the patent parts).  After a jury trial, the jury … Continue reading →

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