Category Archives: Uncategorized

Weight Watchers competitor wins dismissal of TM claims over “millennials are calling [it] Weight Watchers 2.0” ad

Posted on August 23, 2019 by rtushnet

Weight Watchers Int’l, Inc. v. Noom, Inc., 2019 WL 3890139, No. 18-cv-9637 (PKC) (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 19, 2019) Noom markets “weight-loss services based on nutrition and lifestyle advice dispensed through a mobile app.” It ran some ads that mentioned Weight Watchers. … Continue reading →

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Supplement ingredient supplier lacks Article III standing against supplement seller

Posted on August 19, 2019 by rtushnet

ThermoLife International LLC v. American Fitness Wholesalers LLC, 2019 WL 3840988, No. CV-18-04189-PHX-JAT (D. Ariz. Aug. 15, 2019) Courts really, really like to call the Lexmark issue “standing.” Here, though, the court goes further by finding the noncompetitor plaintiff—who makes … Continue reading →

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Reading list: Julie Cohen on internet exceptionalism’s failures

Posted on August 19, 2019 by rtushnet

Julie E. Cohen, Internet Utopianism and the Practical Inevitability of Law, 18 Duke L. & Tech. Rev. 85 (2019) From the Introduction: Writing at the dawn of the digital era, John Perry Barlow proclaimed cyberspace to be a new domain … Continue reading →

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Rogers question: could this art be explicitly misleading?

Posted on August 16, 2019 by rtushnet

One reason that Gordon v. Drape Creative is so concerning is that it reads “explicit” to be something other than explicit–maybe a version of falsity by necessary implication, but one that wants to pose transformativeness as the thing that avoids explicit … Continue reading →

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fake online review by competitor wasn’t advertising/promotion, 10th Circuit says

Posted on August 16, 2019 by rtushnet

Wilson v. AdvisorLaw LLC, — Fed.Appx. —-, 2019 WL 3819604, No. 18-1441 (10th Cir. Aug. 15, 2019) Wilson, a lawyer, had a relationship with AdvisorLaw that ended badly in November 2016. Later that day, a “Patrick Erickson,” allegedly from New … Continue reading →

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Reading list: once upon a time in student debt

Posted on August 15, 2019 by rtushnet

Now that’s how to get people reading: Intergenerational Equity, Student Loan Debt, and Taxing Rich Dead People Victoria J. Haneman Creighton University – School of Law Once upon a time, there was a generation of indentured servants called Millennials. They … Continue reading →

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a made-up credential implying a doctorate is inherently misleading

Posted on August 15, 2019 by rtushnet

Wilson v. Ohio State Chiropractic Board, 2019 WL 3801546, No. 18AP-739, 2019 -Ohio- 3243 (Ct. App. Aug. 13, 2019) The Board disciplined Wilson for deceptive advertising, and the court of appeals upheld the discipline.  Two bits of interest: (1) Wilson … Continue reading →

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Kellogg’s un-FDAMA-approved health claim was “unlawful” under UCL

Posted on August 15, 2019 by rtushnet

Hadley v. Kellogg Sales Co., 2019 WL 3804661, No. 16-CV-04955-LHK (N.D. Cal. Aug. 13, 2019) An important reminder that California’s UCL makes “unlawful” conduct a violation even without separate consumer deception (although consumer belief may be important for damages causation).  … Continue reading →

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Bobby Brown’s failed ROP claim shows some of the cracks in the current ROP tests

Posted on August 15, 2019 by rtushnet

Brown v. Showtime Networks, Inc., No. 18 Civ. 11078 (CM) (JLC), 2019 BL 290214 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 02, 2019) Bobby Brown and the Estate of Bobbi Kristina Brown sued Showtime and the BBC (which got out of the case on jurisdictional … Continue reading →

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click tracking makes online false advertising harm reparable, preliminary injunction inappropriate

Posted on August 12, 2019 by rtushnet

Carson Optical, Inc. v. Alista Corp., 2019 WL 3729460, No. 19-cv-1725 (SJF)(AKT) (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 8, 2019) Carson sells three products on Amazon that have a magnifying mirror: a folding compact lighted mirror, a round lighted mirror with suction cup base, … Continue reading →

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