Category Archives: dastar

false advertising claim based on "innovative/unique" survives

Posted on January 30, 2015 by rtushnet

Ferris Mfg. Corp. v. Carr, No. 14 C 04663, 2015 WL 279355 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 21, 2015)   Ferris sued Roy Carr and Curaline. Ferris makes various wound care products, allegedly award-winning and covered by several patents.  Carr was formerly … Continue reading →

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Failure to disclose potato variety isn’t misleading

Posted on December 30, 2014 by rtushnet

Zuckerman Family Farms, Inc. v. Bidart Bros., No. 1:14–cv–01529, 2014 WL 7239423 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 17, 2014)   Plaintiffs sued for violation of the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA), the Lanham Act, and California Business Practices Code section 17200 et … Continue reading →

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Dastar bars false advertising claim based on patent filing

Posted on December 12, 2014 by rtushnet

Akzo Nobel Surface Chemistry LLC v. Stern, 2014 WL 6910212, No. 2:13–CV–00826 (S.D. Ohio Dec. 8, 2014) Akzo makes specialty chemicals, including adjuvants, which are additives that modify the properties of the main ingredient in formulations.  Stern was formerly employed … Continue reading →

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B&N almost entirely off the hook for copying backpack design

Posted on December 5, 2014 by rtushnet

Rubio v. Barnes & Noble, Inc., 2014 WL 6769150, No. 14–CV–6561 (S.D.N.Y Nov. 11, 2014) Rubio sued her alma mater, the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and Barnes & Noble, Inc. for copying her original drawing of a backpack, producing … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, dastar, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, right of publicity, standing, trademark, unfairness | Leave a comment

unauthorized photo use doesn’t create false advertising claim for photo owners

Posted on November 5, 2014 by rtushnet

Avalos v. IAC/Interactive Corp., No. 13-CV-8351 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 30, 2014) Meltech, a web design and modeling company, sued defendants for allegedly unauthorized use of photos of models in fake online dating profiles on dating sites (e.g., Match.com, Chemistry.com, and OkCupid.com).  … Continue reading →

Posted in copyright, dastar, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, preemption, right of publicity, standing, trademark | Leave a comment

Which false advertising claims are barred by Dastar?

Posted on October 27, 2014 by rtushnet

A.H. Lundberg Associates, Inc. v. TSI, Inc., No. C14–1160, 2014 WL 5365514 (W.D. Wash. Oct. 21, 2014) The parties compete to make and supply equipment to various processing industries. Defendant TSI specializes in wood and biomass, and began purchasing plaintiff … Continue reading →

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Phantom trademark of the Opera: Dastar bars Slep-Tone’s claim

Posted on October 3, 2014 by rtushnet

(There are a lot of Slep-Tone cases floating out around there. I like this one.) Slep-Tone Entertainment Corp. v. Canton Phoenix Inc., 3:14-cv-00764 (D. Or. Sept. 4, 2014) (magistrate judge) Slep-Tone, a maker of karaoke CDs, alleged that defendants (a … Continue reading →

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selling a book without authorization doesn’t violate Lanham Act

Posted on September 29, 2014 by rtushnet

Smith v. BarnesandNoble.com, LLC, No. 1:12-cv-04374, 2014 BL 263099 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 23, 2014) Smith wrote a book, Hardscrabble. He contracted with Smashwords, an online ebook distributor, to sell his book. Smashwords distributed Smith’s book to its retail partners, including B&N, … Continue reading →

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Allegedly false inventorship/ownership claim could be false advertising

Posted on September 29, 2014 by rtushnet

Parallel Synthesis Technologies, Inc. v. DeRisi, 2014 WL 4748611, No. 5:13-cv-05968 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 23, 2014) (magistrate judge) Plaintiff Parallel, allegedly “seduced by the potential for a long-term partnership,” shared its proprietary Parallume assay with DeRisi, a professor of biochemistry … Continue reading →

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A hologram and a straight-up application of Dastar

Posted on September 19, 2014 by rtushnet

Pulse Entertainment Corp. v. David, No. CV 14-4732 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 17, 2014)  This case concerns a lifelike animation of Michael Jackson performing a previously unreleased song that appeared during the 2014 Billboard Music Awards and a related CNN interview … Continue reading →

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