Category Archives: trademark

Count the circuit splits in this nonfamous foreign marks case

Posted on September 29, 2014 by rtushnet

Paleteria La Michoacana, Inc. v. Productos Lacteos Tocumbo S.A. De C.V., 2014 WL 4759945,  No. 11–1623 (D.D.C. Sept. 25, 2014) For different versions of the background story, you can see this Wharton article (which confuses trademark and copyright, and favors … Continue reading →

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

Bend it like Apple

Posted on September 29, 2014 by rtushnet

Via firstmemes, consider the extent to which (1) a reference to a famous mark can be indirect and still trigger dilution law; (2) the tweets from competitors are explicitly protected by federal dilution law’s exemption for comparative advertising, but the … Continue reading →

Posted in dilution, trademark | Leave a comment

litigation grab bag includes another nail in IIC coffin

Posted on September 26, 2014 by rtushnet

EarthCam, Inc. v. OxBlue Corp., 2014 WL 4702200, No. 1:11–cv–02278 (N.D. Ga. Sept. 22, 2014) Mostly a trade secret case where EarthCam alleged that every scrap of information about it was a trade secret.  The parties compete in the market … Continue reading →

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

serial infringement may justify liability under Tiffany v. eBay

Posted on September 26, 2014 by rtushnet

Mori Lee, LLC v. Sears Holdings Corp., 2014 WL 4680739, No. 13cv3656 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 8, 2014) Mori Lee, a dressmaker, sued Sears for trademark infringement and unfair competition.  In 2010, Sears opened an online marketplace at Sears.com where third-party merchants … Continue reading →

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

Mark Lemley is our king

Posted on September 24, 2014 by rtushnet

But then, you knew that anyway.  Here, have a list of the most cited IP articles over the past ten years, compiled with diligent effort by Ted Sichelman.  http://tushnet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Posted in http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, my writings, patent, reading list, trade secrets, trademark | Leave a comment

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

google it: verb status doesn’t mean Google is generic

Posted on September 15, 2014 by rtushnet

Elliot v. Google Inc., No. CV–12–1072, 2014 WL 4447764 (D. Ariz. Sept. 10, 2014) Based on the evidence submitted here, Google seems to have thought long and hard about genericity, and prepared consumer surveys accordingly.  FWIW, my opinion has long … Continue reading →

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

SCIPR: statistics and preview of next Term

Posted on September 12, 2014 by rtushnet

Supreme Court Analytics on the Past Term Professor Edward Lee, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law Professor David Schwartz, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law Small sample!  6 patent cases from Fed. Cir., 5 reversed and 1 affirmed; 2 reversals in © … Continue reading →

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

Dastar and design patent

Posted on September 12, 2014 by rtushnet

Deckers Outdoor Corp. v. J.C. Penney Co., No. 2:14-cv-02565 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 8, 2014) This is going to sound bigger than it is: the court grants JCP’s motion to dismiss a false designation of origin claim under Dastar because JCP, … Continue reading →

Posted in california, dastar, design patent, preemption, trademark | Leave a comment

transformative work of the day, football edition

Posted on September 8, 2014 by rtushnet

Also Jenny Holzer edition.  (Images from the EA maddengiferator, so perhaps all the real issues are on the Holzer side.) http://tushnet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

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