Category Archives: Uncategorized

Mock magazine cover doesn’t infringe, dilute, advertise falsely even if targeted at competitor

Posted on June 6, 2019 by rtushnet

Ebony Media Operations, LLC v. Univision Communications Inc., No. 18-cv-11434-AKH (S.D.N.Y. Jun. 3, 2019) Judge Hellerstein called the question presented “interesting,” but an even better adjective would be “easy”: “whether, in the case of a famous magazine trademark, a competitor-magazine … Continue reading →

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Drawing the Line Between “News” and Commercial Speech

Posted on June 4, 2019 by rtushnet

Panel 3 at the Abrams Institute conference Moderator:  Terri Seligman – Partner and Co-Chair of the Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations Group, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz: newsworthiness/editorial value when there’s a commercial component. As an advertising lawyer, thinks of … Continue reading →

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The Consumer “Right To Know” Versus the First Amendment

Posted on June 4, 2019 by rtushnet

Panel II at the Abrams Institute’s conference Moderator: Jonah Knobler, Partner, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler: recent attempts to do things like require disclosure of child labor in manufacturing process, and related consumer protection cases arguing that failure to disclose … Continue reading →

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Commercial Speech & the First Amendment

Posted on June 4, 2019 by rtushnet

From Yale Law School’s Abrams Institute for Freedom of Speech: Commercial Speech and the First Amendment Floyd Abrams: does commercial speech protection affect non-commercial speech law, for example by decreasing protection for political speech?  We’ve found that political speech proponents … Continue reading →

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major beer battle turns on Mead (Johnson)

Posted on May 31, 2019 by rtushnet

Long post, lots of stuff to cover in this opinion. MillerCoors, LLC v. Anheuser-Busch Cos., No. 19-cv-218-wmc (W.D. Wisc. May 24, 2019) There’s an apocryphal ad story about a cannery stuck with unmarketable pale salmon that turned its disadvantage around … Continue reading →

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Timeshare wars: no Lanham Act standing for property owner

Posted on May 31, 2019 by rtushnet

Wyndham Vacation Ownership v. Reed Hein & Assoc., LLC, 2019 WL 2232241, No. 18-cv-02171-GAP-DCI (M.D. Fla. May 23, 2019) Somebody seriously needs to write a story about the litigation war going on between timeshare companies and firms that sue timeshare … Continue reading →

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Domain name initial interest confusion isn’t dead

Posted on May 31, 2019 by rtushnet

Platinum Properties Investor Network, Inc. v. Sells, 2019 WL 2247544, No. 18-61907-CIV-GAYLES/SELTZER (S.D. Fla. Apr. 11, 2019) (magistrate R&R) Rival real estate investors Hartman and Sells apparently developed a “personal feud,” and Sells allegedly initiated a campaign to harm Hartman’s … Continue reading →

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Placebo effect is ok by CLRA: Homeopathic remedy wins jury trial on false advertising, still needs to defend against “unfairness”

Posted on May 20, 2019 by rtushnet

Allen v. Hylands, Inc., — Fed.Appx. —-, 2019 WL 2142843, No. 17-56184 (9th Cir. May 15, 2019) Allen, on behalf of a class, appealled following a jury’s verdict in favor of Hyland’s. “The gravamen of [Allen’s] claims is that Hyland’s … Continue reading →

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call for law student papers: Harvard J of Law & Tech

Posted on May 20, 2019 by rtushnet

Harvard Journal of Law & Technology Student Note Submission Deadline: June 17, 2019 The Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (JOLT) is excited to announce our student note submission is open for our Fall 2019 issue. Submissions should be 4,000 … Continue reading →

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AARP endorsement of insurer doesn’t inherently represent that AARP chose disinterestedly

Posted on May 17, 2019 by rtushnet

Levay v. AARP, Inc., 2019 WL 2108124, No. 17-09041 DDP (PLAx) (C.D. Cal. May 14, 2019) Plaintiffs are AARP members who allege to have “joined and paid to be AARP members” after being allegedly “induced … through unlawful, misleading and/or … Continue reading →

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