Tag Archives: trademark

A thin record prevents ruling on a thin copyright

Posted on April 10, 2026 by rtushnet

Viann’K Mansur LLC v. Estiloisabella LLC, 2026 WL 952416, No. H-23-2914 (S.D. Tex. Feb. 26, 2026) “The parties in this case sell elaborate ball gowns for quinceanera parties, the celebration of a Latin American girl’s fifteenth birthday.” Defendant Etilolsabella LLC, … Continue reading →

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the continuing merger of TM and the right of publicity: court can’t tell the defenses apart

Posted on April 8, 2026 by rtushnet

Upper Deck Co. v. Pixels.com LLC, No. 3:24-cv-00923-BAS-DEB, 2026 WL 776227 (S.D. Cal. March 19, 2026) Eric Goldman’s discussion. Upper Deck makes sports memorabilia (including sports player trading cards), and has exclusive licensing agreements with various athletes, including famous basketball … Continue reading →

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Netflix’s promotion of fictional team does not constitute trademark use

Posted on April 7, 2026 by rtushnet

Pepperdine University v. Netflix, Inc., No. 2:25-cv-01429-CV (ADSx) (C.D. Cal. Mar. 31, 2026) After denying the motion for preliminary injunction, the court finally tosses Pepperdine’s lawsuit based on use of a fictional Waves team in a Netflix show. Rogers applies … Continue reading →

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naked licensing could constitute false advertising of origin

Posted on April 7, 2026 by rtushnet

Epson America, Inc. v. Global Aiptek Inc., 2025 WL 4631973, No. 8:23-cv-00222-FWS-DFM (C.D. Cal. Dec. 17, 2025) Epson alleged that defendant GAI purposefully and deceptively inflated the lumen and brand specifications of its projectors in violation of the Lanham Act … Continue reading →

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former TM owner states valid damages claim against licensee of current TM owner that drove it out of business via infringement

Posted on April 3, 2026 by rtushnet

Wagner Zip-Change, Inc. v. Tubelitedenco, No. 23 C 05077, 2026 WL 673148 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 10, 2026) Wild facts! Wagner was until 2021 in the business of selling sign lettering products, including its trademarked Jewelite Trim (also known as “trim … Continue reading →

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court dismisses vague false advertising counterclaims but allows challenge to Wonderful’s pistachio trade dress

Posted on April 2, 2026 by rtushnet

Wonderful Co. v. Nut Cravings Inc., No. 1:21-cv-03960 (MKV), 2026 WL 818073 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 24, 2026) Wonderful sued Nut Cravings for infringing its pistachio package trade dress. This opinion deals only with Nut Cravings’ counterclaims, which mostly survive except for … Continue reading →

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WIPIP Panel 6: Design and Brand; Protectable Subject Matter; Copyright Theory and Doctrine II

Posted on February 28, 2026 by rtushnet

A Pantone Prerogative: Defining the Privilege to Standardize Color (Felicia Caponigri) Color standards have been around for a long time. Pantone developed standards and uses its system to promote the colors; registration for the matching system and the color chip. … Continue reading →

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WIPIP Panel 5: Trademark Doctrine

Posted on February 28, 2026 by rtushnet

 The Arbitrary Myth (Dustin Marlan) Connecting the Abercrombie critique literature w/some of the critical/cultural appropriation theory. Judge Friendly says: it need hardly be added that fanciful and arbitrary terms enjoy the protection accorded to suggestive terms. Catachresis: strained metaphor—arbitrary marks … Continue reading →

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WIPIP Panel 3: Deepfakes, Celebrities, and Movies

Posted on February 27, 2026 by rtushnet

A Digital Right of Publicity for the AI World (Emma Perot) Prehistory: ROP covers lookalikes, soundalikes, video game avatars (at least for realism). Persona as training data. Theories of personality: users informed about use; many social media companies do not … Continue reading →

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WIPIP, BU Panel 1: Trademark Theory and Practice

Posted on February 27, 2026 by rtushnet

Trademarks, Functionality, and Competition (Glynn Lunney)          Came in late; 3d Circuit is not a good circuit for trade dress (11.8% success for claimants, almost always on functionality (71% of wins)). 5th Circuit at the other end—50% … Continue reading →

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