Tag Archives: trademark

A Celebration of the Work of Wendy Gordon, part 2

Harmless Free Riding by Wendy Gordon, Boston University School of Law  (Additional related drafts from Wendy: Time and Intellectual Property After Coaseand Proximate Cause in the Law of Copyright: Linking Liability to Incentives) Common law imposes penalties on those who harm much more readily than … Continue reading

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

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

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

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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Mock magazine cover doesn’t infringe, dilute, advertise falsely even if targeted at competitor

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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major beer battle turns on Mead (Johnson)

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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Domain name initial interest confusion isn’t dead

Platinum Properties Investor Network, Inc. v. Sells, 2019 WL 2247544, No. 18-61907-CIV-GAYLES/SELTZER (S.D. Fla. Apr. 11, 2019) (magistrate R&R) Rival real estate investors Hartman and Sells apparently developed a “personal feud,” and Sells allegedly initiated a campaign to harm Hartman’s … Continue reading

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

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 4

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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Legal Applications of Marketing Theory, part 3

Lorin Hitt, Vildan Altuglu, Samid Hussain, & Matteo Li Bergolis, Wharton & Cornerstone Research, Cornerstone Research, Cornerstone Research, Valuation of Privacy: Assessing Potential Harm from Unauthorized Access and Misuse of Private Information in Consumer Class Actions: Disputes over use of … Continue reading

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