Tag Archives: false advertising

When © trips courts up: Lack of access to standards makes false ad claim impossible to resolve

Posted on July 11, 2019 by rtushnet

Wing Enterprises, Inc. v. Tricam Industries, Inc., 2019 WL 2994465, No. 17-cv-1769 (ECT/ECW) (D. Minn. Jul. 9, 2019) This false advertising case about multi-position ladders turns out to involve an important copyright issue that the Supreme Court has taken up: … Continue reading →

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Competitor’s false advertising case against MLM income claims can proceed

Posted on July 10, 2019 by rtushnet

Youngevity Int’l v. Smith, No. 16-CV-704-BTM-JLB, 2019 WL 2918161 (S.D. Cal. Jul. 5, 2019) This Lanham Act case involves, among other things, alleged misrepresentations relating to the MLM aspects of defendants’ business pitched to potential “affiliates.”  First, defendants argued that … Continue reading →

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Keurig unsuccessfully argues that false advertising law unconstitutionally compels speech

Posted on July 3, 2019 by rtushnet

Smith v. Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., No. 18-cv-06690-HSG, 2019 WL 2716552 (N.D. Cal. Jun. 28, 2019) Smith brought a putative class action against Keurig, alleging that its “recyclable” single-serve plastic coffee pods were mislabeled as such because they are not … Continue reading →

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Court formulates survey question in consumer protection case

Posted on June 27, 2019 by rtushnet

Moorer v. Stemgenex Medical Group, Inc., No. 16-cv-2816-AJB-NLS, 2019 WL 2602536 (S.D. Cal. Jun. 25, 2019) This “complex and troubling case” involves allegedly false advertising of stem cell treatments; the court found it “narrowly” certifiable and—unusually—specified the consumer survey questions … Continue reading →

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law firm raises significant 1A questions over nursing home-specific advertising law

Posted on June 27, 2019 by rtushnet

Wilkes & McHugh, P.A. v. LTC Consulting, L.P., — S.E.2d —-, 2019 WL 2570982 (Ga. Jun. 24, 2019) Georgia revised its anti-SLAPP law to be more like California’s (though apparently without the exception for commercial advertising) and the state supreme … Continue reading →

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The probiotic worm turns: previous PI loser wins $15 million in Lanham Act case

Posted on June 26, 2019 by rtushnet

De Simone v. VSL Pharmaceuticals, Inc., No. TDC-15-1356, 2019 WL 2569574 (D. Md. Jun. 20, 2019) Previous discussions.  The parties compete in offering a probiotic product; De Simone used to license his formulation to VSL, then went out on his … Continue reading →

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variety in superiority claims can add up to disparagement

Posted on June 20, 2019 by rtushnet

Deerpoint Group, Inc. v. Agrigenix, LLC, 2019 WL 2513756, No. 18-CV-0536 AWI BAM (E.D. Cal. Jun. 18, 2019) Deerpoint sued Agrigenix for violating the Lanham Act and California’s UCL via false advertising, violating California and federal trade secret law, and … Continue reading →

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photo of competitor’s product not false where it’s indistinguishable; also some design patent functionality

Posted on June 13, 2019 by rtushnet

Tactical Medical Solutions, Inc. v. KARL 2019 WL 2435859, No. 14 C 06035 (N.D. Ill. Jun. 11, 2019) TMS sued Karl and his sole proprietorship, EMI, for infringement of TMS’s design and utility patents by selling a “knockoff” version of … Continue reading →

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Amicus brief in video game/trademark case

Posted on June 10, 2019 by rtushnet

With the help of Phil Malone and Alyssa Picard at Stanford’s IP clinic, I and others submitted a law professors’ brief in this case involving Activision’s use of Humvees in depictions of military operations in the Call of Duty games.  AMG … Continue reading →

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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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