Tag Archives: dilution

Temu’s “cheaper and way better quality than Shein” claims were potentially falsifiable, not puffery

Roadget Business PTE. Ltd. v. PDD Holdings Inc., 2026 WL 44864, No. 24-2402 (TJK) (D.D.C. Jan. 7, 2026) Plaintiff, aka Shein, sells low-priced fashion and lifestyle products through a website and mobile application. Defendant runs a competing, discount-driven online platform—Temu. … Continue reading

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court rejects affiliation confusion theory for lack of harm, declines to order tarps over P’s goods

Survitec Survival Prods., Inc. v. Fire Protection Service, Inc., 2025 WL 2782332, No. H-21-312 (S.D. Tex. Sept. 30, 2025) This case demonstrates exactly why harm to the plaintiff should be explicitly a part of a trademark case that relies on … Continue reading

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graphic designer’s photos and hashtag using former client’s name didn’t infringe TM

Hilber v. Malley’s Candies, Inc., 2025 WL 2402329, No. 1:22-CV-02305 (N.D. Ohio Aug. 19, 2025) Advertising is often created by independent contractors, which has copyright risks when things go sour. Here, the court denies summary judgment on the defendant’s implied … Continue reading

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IPSC: Copyright Fair Use and User Rights/Trademark IV

Copyright Fair Use and User Rights Stav Zeitouni, UC Berkeley School of Law, A Theory of Noncommerciality in Fair Use Lots of incoherent concepts—Hachette v. Internet Archive is example where dct used “failed to pay the customary price,” but ct … Continue reading

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Amicus brief on unconstitutionality of dilution by tarnishment

 Filed in the return of JDI v. VIP to the Ninth Circuit. from Blogger http://tushnet.blogspot.com/2025/08/amicus-brief-on-unconstitutionality-of.html

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5th Circuit agrees that joint TM owners can’t sue each other under any Lanham Act theory

Reed v. Marshall, — F.4th —-, 2025 WL 1822673, No. 24-20198 (5th Cir. Jul. 2, 2025) Jade, an R&B, hip hop, and soul vocal group, rose to prominence in the 1990s. Jade disbanded in 1995, when the members began pursuing … Continue reading

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associating two differently named products can’t cause dilution, which requires similar marks

In re Soclean, Inc., Marketing, Sales Practices & Prods. Liab. Litig., No. 22-mc-152, MDL No. 3021, 2024 WL 4444819 (W.D. Pa. Oct. 8, 2024) Previous discussion of MDL. As previously noted, SoClean is a dominant player in the market for … Continue reading

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Old Bay or 420 Bud?

 This sticker doesn’t seem particularly likely to confuse to me, and dilution is bunk: from Blogger http://tushnet.blogspot.com/2023/10/old-bay-or-420-bud.html

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New paper: Bad Spaniels, Counterfeit Methodists, and Lying Birds: How Trademark Law Reinvented Strict Scrutiny

On SSRN, in advance of the JDI v. VIP case: Bad Spaniels, Counterfeit Methodists, and Lying Birds: How Trademark Law Reinvented Strict Scrutiny Abstract: Does trademark law cover noncommercial speech, defined as it is in First Amendment doctrine as speech … Continue reading

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Penn. dilution is broader than federal dilution; former licensee might not own marks despite its registrations

I.M. Wilson, Inc. v. Otvetstvennostyou “Grichko,” No. 18-5194, 2020 WL 6731109 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 13, 2020) The OG parties are Russian and Czech entities that manufacture and sell ballet and pointe shoes under the name GRISHKO. In the early 1990s, … Continue reading

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