Category Archives: http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post

3rd Annual Trademark Works in Progress event at AU

Posted on October 10, 2014 by rtushnet

Charles Colman, Trademark Law and the Prickly Ambivalence of Post-Parodies: The way that people play with trademarks that companies have deliberately infused with atmospherics, per Jessica Litman, and to which people have predictable emotional responses.  TM doesn’t have good ways … Continue reading →

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

Court declines to apply Lexmark to TM

Posted on October 8, 2014 by rtushnet

Peter Kiewit Sons’, Inc. v. Wall Street Equity Group, Inc., 2014 WL 4843674, No. 8:10–CV–365 (D. Neb. Sept. 29, 2014) This is a default so it’s just what the court decided to examine with respect to the facts; nonetheless there … Continue reading →

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

Future of Music conference announcement w/scholarships

Posted on October 8, 2014 by rtushnet

The Future of Music Coalition’s 14th annual Policy Summit ( http://futureofmusic.org/summit ) is October 27-28 in Washington, DC. It is offering scholarships for students and musicians starting at $25 for both days.  From FOMC: Future of Music Coalition ( http://futureofmusic.org … 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 →

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

statements to regulators aren’t commercial advertising

Posted on October 3, 2014 by rtushnet

Presby Environmental, Inc. v. Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc., No. 13–cv–355, 2014 WL 4922986 (D.N.H. Sept. 30, 2014) Presby sued ADS, a competitor in the septic system product market, for allegedly violating a settlement agreement; I’m only going to address the … Continue reading →

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

EFF investigates keylogger software, finds false advertising

Posted on October 1, 2014 by rtushnet

From its report on ComputerCOP: In investigating ComputerCOP, we also discovered misleading marketing material, including a letter of endorsement purportedly from the U.S. Department of Treasury, which has now issued a fraud alert over the document. ComputerCOP further claims an … Continue reading →

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Stay away from Juliet: keyword infringement and dilution case continues

Posted on September 30, 2014 by rtushnet

Romeo & Juliette Laser Hair Removal, Inc. v. Assara I, LLC, No. 08-CV-442, 2014 BL 263647 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 23, 2014) A keyword case gets past the pleading stage (though the worst part is the dilution ruling).  The parties compete in … Continue reading →

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

Reading list: is efficiency all there is in copyright?

Posted on September 29, 2014 by rtushnet

Oren Bracha and Talha Syed, Beyond Efficiency: Consequence-Sensitive Theories of Copyright, 29 Berkeley Tech. L.J. (2014). The article’s argument is complicated and I would disserve it by trying to summarize, but a core point is that, to the extent that … Continue reading →

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

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 →

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

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 →

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