Tag Archives: trademark

DC Circuit dodges incontestability, finds little-noticed statements immaterial in dueling desserts case

Posted on August 20, 2018 by rtushnet

Paleteria La Michoacana, Inc. v. Productos Lacteos Tocumbo S.A. de C.V., 2018 WL 3894587, No. 17-7075 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 10, 2018) The facts are a mess, but basically PLM and Prolacto both make paletas, Mexican frozen desserts, using nearly the … Continue reading →

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IPSC session 6

Posted on August 11, 2018 by rtushnet

Session 6: Tort-Tinged IP Ben Depoorter (and Robert Walker), So Sue Me … Please! Reverse Nuisance in Intellectual Property Law Goldieblox case: filed declaratory judgment against Beastie Boys. Getting sued can sometimes be a boon and can bring a lot … Continue reading →

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IPSC session 4

Posted on August 10, 2018 by rtushnet

Session 4: Old and New Theories of IP Shyam Balganesh, The Common Law of Copyright Censorial copyright claims: motivated by non economic, dignitary concerns, and the author/creator’s principal objective is expurgatory—to prevent the work from circulating publicly. These claims have … Continue reading →

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IPSC session 2

Posted on August 9, 2018 by rtushnet

Session 2: IP History and Theory, Stephanie Bair, IP Inequality Artists and innovators are not equally distributed. Rich people are more likely to acquire IP rights than poor people; whites than minorities in the US; males than females.  Theoretical lens: … Continue reading →

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IPSC session 1

Posted on August 9, 2018 by rtushnet

Standard disclaimers apply: These are my summaries, not the presentations themselves. As usual, I have to skip a lot of interesting presentations and I try to attend things I haven’t seen, no matter how good the ones I have already … Continue reading →

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The Ninth Circuit don’t care: successful Rogers defense reversed because plaintiff’s trademark is “artistic”

Posted on August 8, 2018 by rtushnet

Gordon v. Drape Creative, Inc., No. 16-56715 (9th Cir. Jul. 30, 2018) The Ninth Circuit routinely invents some new epicycle for trademark defenses; here it unfortunately mushes together Rogers and transformativeness (absent the word itself, replaced with “artistic”).  There are … Continue reading →

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Plastic not so fantastic: video shot in medical facility didn’t defame or infringe facility’s TM rights

Posted on July 20, 2018 by rtushnet

Weirton Medical Center, Inc. v. Introublezone, Inc., 2018 WL 3458261, J-A06003-18 (Pa. Super. Ct. Jul. 18, 2018) Dr. Craig Richard Oser was a plastic surgeon with staff privileges at plaintiff WMC from 2009 to 2014, making him an employee according … Continue reading →

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ASTM v. PublicResource.org: Trademark

Posted on July 18, 2018 by rtushnet

American Society for Testing and Materials v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., No. 17-7035 (D.C. Cir. Jul. 17, 2018) Trademark: This was where the district court went very, very wrong—I consider the copyright issues difficult though I have a preferred outcome; the trademark … Continue reading →

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TM/False advertising issue of the day

Posted on July 12, 2018 by rtushnet

Seen on the street in NYC; the candies have no marijuana content–they’re sold as “adult” candies, furthering the impression. My daughter also asked “Could the owners of Scooby Doo sue?” and then, because I have taught her well, corrected that … Continue reading →

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False designation damages require proximate cause, dooming $250 million jury award

Posted on July 2, 2018 by rtushnet

ZeniMax Media Inc. v. Oculus VR LLC, No. 14-cv-01849 (N.D. Tex. Jun. 27, 2018) After trial of this case, the jury returned a verdict, finding in relevant part that defendants were liable for false designation of origin, basically about the … Continue reading →

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