Tag Archives: false advertising

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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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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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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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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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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Journal article merited better disclosure of affiliation w/competing group, not a lawsuit

Posted on May 8, 2019 by rtushnet

Board of Forensic Document Examiners, Inc. v. American Bar Ass’n, — F.3d —-, 2019 WL 1930310, No. 18-2653 (7th Cir. May 1, 2019) The Board of Forensic Document Examiners is a non-profit organization that certifies forensic document examiners (currently about … Continue reading →

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Copying before-and-after surgical photos can be false advertising despite Dastar

Posted on May 6, 2019 by rtushnet

Aesthetic Associates, Inc. v. Key West Institute for Plastic Surgery, Inc., No. 18-10059-CIV-MARTINEZ-OTAZO-REYES, 2019 WL 1922854 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 5, 2019) Plaintiff, whose principal is Dr. Portuese, sued defendants for copyright infringement, removal of CMI and false advertising in passing … Continue reading →

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Legal Applications of Marketing Theory, part 5 (me on puffery)

Posted on May 6, 2019 by rtushnet

Rebecca Tushnet, Harvard Law School, On Puffery Puffery is a concept that purports to be about things consumers ignore and don’t rely on. It is in fact a concept about things courts ignore and won’t rule on.  At the moment, … Continue reading →

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Legal Applications of Marketing Theory, part 4

Posted on May 6, 2019 by rtushnet

Legal Applications of Marketing Theory, part 4 Steve Ansolbahahere & Jacob Gersen, Harvard University, Dept of Government & Harvard Law School, Consumer Confusion in the Law of Food (Are People Misled?) Pom Wonderful case: Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Blueberry 100% juice; … Continue reading →

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hijacking another’s webpage for competing service is bad

Posted on May 1, 2019 by rtushnet

Spy Dialer, Inc. v. Reya LLC, 2019 WL 1873296, No. ED CV 18-1178 FMO (SHKx) (C.D. Cal Mar. 18, 2019) The parties compete in the market for reverse phone lookups.  When a user accessed plaintiff’s Spydialer.com, malicious computer code allegedly … Continue reading →

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