Author Archives: rtushnet

local ad company has Lanham Act standing against Meta for allegedly overstating ad reach

Posted on March 6, 2024 by rtushnet

Metroplex Communic., Inc. v. Meta Platforms, Inc., 2024 WL 940127, No. 22-cv-1455-SMY (S.D. Ill. Mar. 5, 2024) Metroplex, a local advertising company, brought a putative class action against Meta for unfair competition. Although Meta argued that Metroplex was an ad … Continue reading →

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Bank has Lanham Act standing to assert disparagement claim against former customer (itself a service provider)

Posted on March 6, 2024 by rtushnet

SouthState Bank, N.A. v. Qoins Technologies, Inc., — F.Supp.3d —-, 2024 WL 911075, No. 1:22-CV-5020-MHC (N.D. Ga. Mar. 1, 2024) “Qoins is a financial technology company that collects funds from its customers and disburses payments to designated creditors in order … Continue reading →

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Two hospitals can both be best, and use purple ads (for now at least)

Posted on March 6, 2024 by rtushnet

NYU Langone Health Sys. v. Northwell Health, Inc., 2024 WL 898941, No. 23-CV-5032 (VEC) (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 1, 2024) NYU Langone sued Northwell for trade dress infringement, unfair competition and false designation of origin, and false advertising under the Lanham Act, … Continue reading →

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“it appears difficult for a defendant, innocent or not, to defend himself in a claim for disgorgement of profits”

Posted on March 4, 2024 by rtushnet

Newborn Bros. Co. v. Albion Engineering Co., No. 12-2999, 2024 WL 887785 (D.N.J. Feb. 29, 2024) Previously, after a bench trial, the court found Albion liable for falsely advertising its caulk dispensing guns as “Made in the USA.” Now it’s … Continue reading →

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Falsely advertising “ghost guns” as legal in NY is actionable

Posted on February 26, 2024 by rtushnet

State of N.Y. v. Arm or Ally, LLC, 2024 WL 756474, No. 22-CV-6124 (JMF) (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 23, 2024) The AG sued sellers of “unfinished frames and receivers” — also known as “80% lowers” or “receiver blanks” —designed to evade restrictions … Continue reading →

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US News rating was mere opinion except as to school that intentionally submitted bad information to it

Posted on February 26, 2024 by rtushnet

Favell v. Univ. of Southern Cal., 2024 WL 751006, No. CV 23-3389-GW-MARx (C.D. Cal. Jan. 23, 2024) Plaintiffs alleged that defendants conspired to inflate the US News ranking of USC Rossier School of Education by submitting inaccurate or incomplete data … Continue reading →

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TMSR Session 3: Private Actors…and their Machines

Posted on February 24, 2024 by rtushnet

Introduction: Jeanne Fromer Private actors pursue their own interests. Focused on Amazon: free riding on gov’t mechanisms, particularly TM law, to communicate to gov’t not to regulate it—product liability, intermediary liability. It’s also cheaper, and Amazon is notoriously cheap. Affecting … Continue reading →

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TMSR Session 2: Administrative Agencies and Specialized Courts

Posted on February 24, 2024 by rtushnet

Introduction: Robert Burrell IP Australia exerts extraordinary control over legislative agenda; if you can persuade IP Au. that something needs to change, then it can change quite quickly. But the flipside is that it’s seen in light of what the … Continue reading →

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15th Trademark Scholars’ Roundtable: Session 1: Congress and the Courts (including the role of the Supreme Court)

Posted on February 23, 2024 by rtushnet

Introduction: Rebecca Tushnet What might we derive from things the Court has said about trademark of late? The purpose of trademark is consumer protection; source-identification is the most relevant consideration but not the entirety of TM law.  [see also Booking: … Continue reading →

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ex-employee’s Glassdoor post wasn’t commercial advertising or promotion

Posted on February 23, 2024 by rtushnet

Schabacker v. Ferens, 2024 WL 710632, No. 22-3778 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 21, 2024) ECRI and its CEO sued Ferens, a former ECRI employee, for various things including defamation, IIED, violations of trade secret law, and Lanham Act false advertising. ECRI … Continue reading →

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