Tag Archives: false designation of origin

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

Posted on July 4, 2025 by rtushnet

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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Dastar bars claim against allegedly false copyright/licensing claims used to extract money from public domain works

Posted on February 10, 2025 by rtushnet

McKenzie v. Artists Rights Soc., Inc., 2024 WL 4803870, — F.Supp.3d —-, 2024 WL 4803870, 22 Civ. 1619 (JHR) (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 15, 2024) McKenzie is an art publisher that worked with the late artist Robert Indiana to create and produce … Continue reading →

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using results from one product to tout another isn’t passing off, but could be false advertising

Posted on August 29, 2024 by rtushnet

Ortho-Tain, Inc. v. Colorado Vivos Therapeutics, Inc., 2024 WL 3925408, No. 20 C 4301 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 23, 2024) Ortho-Tain sued defendants (including a bunch of former employees); I’ll focus only on the Lanham Act claims alleging that they falsely … Continue reading →

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Tiktok’s other, smaller legal problem

Posted on April 29, 2024 by rtushnet

Beijing Meishe Network Technology Co. v. Tiktok Inc., 2024 WL 1772833, No. 23-cv-06012-SI (N.D. Cal. Apr. 23, 2024) Skipping the copyright and trade secrets part of the case. (In brief: Meishe argued that Tiktok copied its code via an employee … Continue reading →

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too much complaining about copying triggers Dastar/preemption for other claims

Posted on November 27, 2023 by rtushnet

Design Gaps, Inc. v. Hall, 2023 WL 8103156, No. 3:23-cv-186-MOC (W.D.N.C. Nov. 21, 2023) Design Gaps produces custom cabinetry for high-end homes; Hall is a former employee of Design Gaps who signed a nonsolicitation/noncompete clause but went to work for … Continue reading →

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who has standing to challenge robot lawyers?

Posted on November 27, 2023 by rtushnet

MillerKing, LLC v. DoNotPay, Inc., — F.Supp.3d —-, No. 3:23-CV-863-NJR, 2023 WL 8108547 (S.D. Ill. Nov. 17, 2023) “This case pits real lawyers against a robot lawyer.” Spoiler: the robot wins for lack of Article III standing. DoNotPay is an … Continue reading →

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