Author Archives: rtushnet

WIPIP session 6: IP Theory

Andrew Gilden, Talking Pleasure in IP Courts and advocates are skeptical of value of pleasure; when they want to honor it, they reframe it as something else, like social justice. Joy of producing/consuming can be important motivation for activities, though, … Continue reading

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WIPIP session 5: Anti-Circumvention

Charles Duan, Property v. Property 1201 met connected devices—computers are everywhere. Allowed producers to control coffee machines by putting software in them; can prevent use, resale, using unsupported coffee. Harms: speech, consumer protection (false advertising/disappointed expectations), competition/antitrust, innovation/fair use, interoperability, … Continue reading

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WIPIP session 4: ™ & Consumers

Mary Katherine Amerine, Reasonably Careless Consumers in TM & False Advertising How do courts treat consumers in TM and false advertising cases? Assumption dates back to at least the 1930s that consumers exercise less care for inexpensive grocery items and … Continue reading

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WIPIP session 3: Cultural Production

Bita Amani: Forbidden Arts & Subjugated Knowledges: On the Polemics of Intellectual Property  IP rights are state-dependent, property-dependent models so make false promises of equality. History of art as propaganda: art can support war or speak truth to power. Iran … Continue reading

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WIPIP session 2: ™ Doctrine, © Fair Use

Barbara Lauriat, Borrowing Goodwill Comparative/historical approach to doctrine/theory. There used to be a big difference between having a TM and passing off. Bone/McKenna’s history of goodwill: didn’t reflect her understanding of the history: seen goodwill used as a property right … Continue reading

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WIPIP Session 1: AI

Nikola Datzov, Can AI Keep a (Trade) Secret? We’ve funneled IP protection for AI generated inventions/information to trade secrecy w/o patent or copyright for human authors/inventors. But it’s narrow protection b/c there are no choices. How can we trust AI … Continue reading

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reliance can be presumed in NY from material misleadingness, as in California

Polvay v. FCTI, Inc., — F.Supp.3d —-, 2024 WL 322050, No. 22-cv-4315 (JSR) (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 29, 2024) The court certified a class of New York consumers who were assessed multiple fees for making balance inquiries at one of defendant FCTI’s … Continue reading

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no summary judgment on “non-toxic” and “Earth friendly”

Bush v. Rust-Oleum Corp., 2024 WL 308263, No. 20-cv-03268-LB (N.D. Cal. Jan. 26, 2024) Bush alleged that Rust-Oleum falsely labeled of its “Krud Kutter” cleaning products as “non-toxic” and “Earth friendly.” Rust-Oleum sought summary judgment on the California consumer protection … Continue reading

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New article: Three Sizes Fit Some: Why Content Regulation Needs Test Suites

 At the Berkeley Tech LJ:  ABSTRACT The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) offers a new model for regulating online services that allow users to post things. It uses size-based tiers to delineate the different levels of obligation imposed on various … Continue reading

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Reading list: geolocation data increased incivility online

Civilizing social media: The effect of geolocation on the incivility of news comments Yufan Guo, Yuhan Li, and Tian Yang, New Media & Society (2023) Abstract Many social media affordances can affect the quality of online discourse, but such an effect remains understudied for the … Continue reading

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