Tag Archives: trademark

They chose unwisely: court blows another hole in Rogers by refusing to say that explicit means explicit

Posted on February 19, 2020 by rtushnet

Chooseco LLC v. Netflix, Inc., No. 2:19-cv-08 (D. Vt. Feb. 11, 2020) Explicit doesn’t mean explicit in yet another sign of the pressure the Rogers test is under.  Chooseco sued Netflix for infringement (etc.) of its rights in Choose Your … Continue reading →

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when you buy a business whose mark is the owner’s photo, make sure you get all the rights

Posted on February 15, 2020 by rtushnet

Minott v. Wichita Water Conditioning, Inc., No. 18-cv-01656-MSK-SKC, 2020 WL 616359 (D. Colo. Feb. 7, 2020) Minott used to own Fluid, which operated a water conditioning business under the trade name Chuck, The Water Man. Fluid made extensive use of … Continue reading →

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Amicus brief in Booking.com

Posted on January 14, 2020 by rtushnet

Joined by a number of able trademark scholars, I filed this amicus brief in Booking.com in support of neither party, arguing that (1) genericness standards need to take into account the risks of overassertion/overprotection, and (2) unfair competition doctrine provides … Continue reading →

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calling business duration into question could actionably disparage its honesty

Posted on December 27, 2019 by rtushnet

Giannone v. Giannone, 2019 WL 6910151, No. 16-cv-911 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 18, 2019) “A lamentable father-son conflict over a family plumbing business provides the backdrop for this Lanham Act case.” Joseph Giannone, Senior, failed to get summary judgment on his … Continue reading →

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Court fixes mistake: Rogers applies to nonfiction titles

Posted on December 9, 2019 by rtushnet

IOW, LLC v. Breus, 2019 WL 6603948, No. CV18-1649-PHX-DGC (D. Ariz. Dec. 2, 2019) The court quite properly grants a motion for reconsideration of part of its earlier opinion, correctly applying Rogers v. Grimaldi/Empire to protect the title of a … Continue reading →

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Design Law Scholars Roundtable part 3

Posted on December 5, 2019 by rtushnet

Session 3: Shaping an Overall Approach to Protection Introductions: Jerry Reichman and Estelle Derclaye  In what ways should different forms of protection be tailored to various types of subject matter (construed legally as forms of intellectual property, but also subject … Continue reading →

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Design Law Scholars Roundtable part 2

Posted on December 5, 2019 by rtushnet

Session 2: Legal Protection for Design Introduction: Chris Sprigman: what kinds of protection should be available depends on what the justifications for protection are. Incentives: requires us to ask about motivations of designers, the companies that employ them. Design of … Continue reading →

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Design Law Scholars Roundtable (Notre Dame) part 1

Posted on December 5, 2019 by rtushnet

I have just now gotten around to my notes from this excellent roundtable. Introduction: Mark McKenna & Graeme Dinwoodie Why do a roundtable like this? Putting together scholarly discussion for long-term outputs rather than particular works in the short term. … Continue reading →

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Trademark overprotection panel, Suffolk

Posted on October 30, 2019 by rtushnet

Second Annual Intellectual Property & Innovation Conference Suffolk University Law School NCSG The State of Trademark “Overprotection” by Courts and the PTO. What Happens When Institutions Overprotect Trademark Rights? Moderator: Leah Chan Grinvald, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor … Continue reading →

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company claiming rights in “overhead doors” makes little headway against challenger

Posted on October 25, 2019 by rtushnet

OGD Equipment Co. v. Overhead Door Corp., No. 17-cv-00898-ALM-KPJ, 2019 WL 5390589 (E.D. Tex. Jul. 15, 2019) This is the magistrate judge’s R&R, subsequently adopted by the court. OGD is a Texas “residential and commercial door repair and installation company” … Continue reading →

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