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

Trademark question of the day

Posted on August 21, 2014 by rtushnet

Timesify makes any website look like the New York Times, so that your neighbors don’t know you’re reading something junky.  “In a matter of seconds, the article on how ‘Miley Cyrus Peed on a Tree’ will appear on a page … Continue reading →

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

Gripe sites protected despite use of URL and "Official" language

Posted on August 20, 2014 by rtushnet

Board of Directors of Sapphire Bay Condominiums West v. Simpson, 2014 WL 4067175, No. 04–62 (D.V.I. Aug. 13, 2014) The board is a condo association using  the name Sapphire Bay Condominiums West.  Simpson bought a condo at Sapphire Bay in … Continue reading →

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

Personal liability for corporate scheme appropriate for repeat offender

Posted on August 19, 2014 by rtushnet

Federal Trade Comm’n v. Grant Connect, LLC, No. 11–18023, 2014 WL 3973402 (9th Cit. Aug. 15, 2014) Individual defendant Kyle Kimoto appealed from the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the FTC and its permanent injunction against a variety … Continue reading →

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

As pure as New York snow: Bette Davis as icon and as mark

Posted on August 19, 2014 by rtushnet

Erickson Beamon Ltd. v. CMG Worldwide, Inc., No. 12 Civ. 5105, 2014 WL 3950897 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 13, 2014) EB sought a declaratory judgment of non-infringement of trademark and rights of publicity based on its “Bette Davis Eyes” jewelry collection, launched … Continue reading →

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

Personalized sales pitches as "advertising"

Posted on August 19, 2014 by rtushnet

Larocca v. Creig Northrop Team, P.C., 94 A.3d 197, No. 0766 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. June 25, 2014) Plaintiffs alleged violations of Maryland’s Secondary Mortgage Loan Law, which governs certain types of mortgage-related false advertising.  The court had to interpret … Continue reading →

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

Kindle Worlds and fans

Posted on August 18, 2014 by rtushnet

Jeff John Roberts has a piece up at Gigaom about the article I presented at IPSC, with the news hook being Kindle Worlds versus traditional noncommercial fan fiction.  The title calls Kindle Worlds a “bust” for fans; I don’t think … Continue reading →

Posted in fan fiction, fanworks, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, my writings | Leave a comment

business tort review: Lanham Act doesn’t cover all commercial defamation

Posted on August 14, 2014 by rtushnet

In my advertising law class, I teach that common-law business torts are both broader and narrower than the Lanham Act.  Here we have examples of both features: the scienter requirement and the lack of limitation to “commercial advertising and promotion.” … Continue reading →

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

Needs more facts: insufficient allegations of dissemination doom Lanham Act claim

Posted on August 13, 2014 by rtushnet

SB Diversified Prods., Inc. v. Murchison, No. 12cv2328, 2014 WL 3894353 (S.D. Cal. July 28, 2014) Previous opinion discussed here.  SB sued Murchison for false advertising and unfair competition, claiming that Murchison, a competitor in the squirrel trap market, made … Continue reading →

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

FTC can presume consumer reliance in contempt proceedings

Posted on August 13, 2014 by rtushnet

FTC v. BlueHippo Funding, LLC, No. 11-374-cv (2d Cir. Aug. 12, 2014) (random side note: decided two and a half years after oral argument!) The FTC appealed the damages portion of a 2010 SDNY order granting in part the FTC’s … Continue reading →

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

Reading list: copyright history

Posted on August 13, 2014 by rtushnet

Reading list: Derek Miller, Performative Performances: A History and Theory of the “Copyright Performance,” 64 Theatre Journal 161 (2012).  Miller offers an account of an episode in 19th century British copyright law when, it was generally accepted, some sort of … Continue reading →

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