Tag Archives: trademark

Gov’t brief in Lee v. Tam

Posted on November 10, 2016 by rtushnet

Available here.  They make the same “bumper sticker” argument that I think makes sense. from Blogger http://tushnet.blogspot.com/2016/11/govt-brief-in-lee-v-tam.html

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Disparaging an unauthorized reseller could violate the Lanham Act

Posted on October 31, 2016 by rtushnet

Dentsply Int’l Inc. v. Dental Brands for Less LLC, No. 15 Civ. 8775, 2016 WL 6310777 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 27, 2016) Dentsply sued Dental Brands over Dental Brands’ resale of Dentsply’s dental products without Dentsply’s authorization. Dental Brands buys Dentsply’s products … Continue reading →

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Spy Phone v. spy phone: Google loses motion to dismiss TM and other claims

Posted on October 18, 2016 by rtushnet

Spy Phone Labs LLC. v. Google Inc., No. 15-cv-03756, 2016 WL 6025469 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 14, 2016) The plaintiff here, an app maker with a registered mark for Spy Phone for a monitoring app, squeaks past dismissal of its trademark … Continue reading →

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Don’t sell a business and then keep running it

Posted on October 17, 2016 by rtushnet

Electrology Laboratory, Inc. v. Kunze, 169 F.Supp.3d 1119 (D. Colo. 2016) Larry Paul Kunze a/k/a Lorenzo Kunzel sold his family business, plaintiff ELI (d/b/a Rocky Mountain Laser College/RMLC), “but couldn’t give it up. So, as the evidence revealed, even while … Continue reading →

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Dual use of same mark on customized Jeeps not confusing, court rules

Posted on October 11, 2016 by rtushnet

Moab Indus. v. FCA US, LLC, No. 3:12-cv-8247, 2016 WL 5859700 (D. Ariz. Oct. 6, 2016) Moab sued FCA, aka Chrysler, for trademark infringement (via reverse confusion) and state-law dilution based on Chrysler’s use of MOAB on a limited edition … Continue reading →

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Right of publicity/passing off blast from the past

Posted on September 29, 2016 by rtushnet

From The Spirit of the Times, May 21, 1845 “Gen. Tom Thumb’s father brought suit in Paris, against the manager of a theatre, who announced a play called Tom Pouce, (Thumb,) while the General was exhibiting himself at another place. … Continue reading →

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when are state law unfair competition claims preempted?

Posted on September 29, 2016 by rtushnet

Duer v. Bensussen Deutsch & Associates, Inc., 2015 WL 11256568, No. 14-CV-01589 (N.D. Ga. Jul. 8, 2015) Very broad preemption finding makes me blog this older case that popped out of Westlaw.  Duer makes medicine dosage adherence tools suitable for … Continue reading →

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Parody product fails to squeak through the cracks in dilution/infringement claim

Posted on September 29, 2016 by rtushnet

VIP Products, LLC v. Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc., No. 14-cv-02057 (D. Az. Sept. 27, 2016) The court denied VIP’s motion for summary judgment on its declaratory judgment action against JDPI, and also kicked out a number of VIP’s defenses, leaving … Continue reading →

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Stanford Sociology and Psychology of IP

Posted on September 10, 2016 by rtushnet

Session 5: Fairness, efficiency, and distributive justice Discussion leaders: Stephanie Bair: Concepts of ownership/justice in ownership may be universals—studies of children across cultures.  Purpose of IP as understood to be to prevent plagiarism—asking for permission is sufficient, though, in many … Continue reading →

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Stanford Sociology & Psychology of IP, branding

Posted on September 10, 2016 by rtushnet

Session 4: The sociology and psychology of brands Discussion leaders: Jeanne Fromer: A lot of work in this area. Some is about how consumers react to branding in systematic ways.  Rule of thumb in talking to branding folks: if you … Continue reading →

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