Author Archives: rtushnet

Hockey fans sue over fake beer sizes because they’re false and deceptive

Posted on March 19, 2014 by rtushnet

There, I fixed the headline of the original story.  If a small costs $4 and a large costs $7, there ought to be a difference in amount delivered.  Also, anyone who uses the McDonald’s hot coffee case to “prove” that … Continue reading →

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

Reliability, safety, and 1050-1150 RPM speed claims are puffery

Posted on March 18, 2014 by rtushnet

Smith v. LG Electronics U.S.A., Inc., 2014 WL 989742, No. C 13-4361 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 11, 2014) Smith sued LG over allegedly defective washing machines that shook and vibrated excessively during use.  In 2012, the CPSC recalled the machines due … Continue reading →

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Copyright infringement doesn’t violate the Lanham Act

Posted on March 18, 2014 by rtushnet

Masck v. Sports Illustrated, No. 13-10226 (E.D. Mich. Mar. 10, 2014) Previous discussion, in which I got exercised about the court’s misapplication of Dastar, herein corrected.  Masck took an “iconic” photo of defendant Desmond Howard, running for a touchdown during … Continue reading →

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

Today’s inducement question

Posted on March 18, 2014 by rtushnet

#McConnelling: The Daily Show invites users to score footage of Mitch McConnell to as many songs as possible.  The idea is that it’s funny no matter what music you use.  So, inducement?  If it’s transformative (which I think it is), … Continue reading →

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

My long, sad Garcia v. Google post

Posted on March 17, 2014 by rtushnet

You know, for a judge who loves the First Amendment and free speech so much when it comes to the right of publicity and nominative fair use, Judge Kozinski can seem oddly unconcerned about it in other areas of IP, … Continue reading →

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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