Tag Archives: trademark

court grants motion to dismiss on nominative fair use grounds

Posted on July 21, 2016 by rtushnet

Beachbody, LLC v. Universal Nutrients, No. 16-02015, 2016 WL 3912014 (C.D. Cal. July 18, 2016) Beachbody sued Universal and Wal-Mart for using its “shakeology” mark on product packaging and purchase receipts. The court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss—apparently the standard … Continue reading →

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Questionable branding

Posted on July 11, 2016 by rtushnet

Not exactly on topic, but funny: Trader Joe’s often uses some signals about what national brands one can compare its house products to. Here, while Cheerios and Spaghettios are hard to confuse, the result is two different kinds of Joe’s … Continue reading →

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7th Circuit affirms rare right of publicity loss based on ad

Posted on July 11, 2016 by rtushnet

Martin v. Living Essentials, LLC, No. 16-1370, — Fed.Appx. —- (7th Cir. Jun. 30, 2016) The Seventh Circuit knocked this affirmance out quickly—here’s my discussion of the Jan. 2016 district court decision. Guinness World Records lists Johannes “Ted” Martin as … Continue reading →

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TM/false advertising interface: “same formulation” statement w/o more infringes

Posted on June 30, 2016 by rtushnet

De Simone v. VSL Pharmaceuticals, Inc., No. TDC-15-1356, 2016 WL 3466033 (D. Md. Jun. 20, 2016) This case sends us deep into the weeds of the distinctions between trademark and false advertising, and approves rather onerous requirements for apparently truthful … Continue reading →

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Copyright/TM question of the day, politics edition

Posted on June 28, 2016 by rtushnet

Analyze the linked Buzzfeed public service announcement about registration (warning: link will likely autoplay). from Blogger http://ift.tt/298KRKR

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TM/design patent question of the day

Posted on June 21, 2016 by rtushnet

Consider the iPhoney: Does this infringe any rights Apple might have?  We know the trade dress is functional for phones; I would argue that the trade dress is functional for realistic toys as well (and possibly more so, given what … Continue reading →

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Using generic art that may evoke plaintiff is fair

Posted on June 20, 2016 by rtushnet

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Inc. v. Rushmore Photo & Gifts, Inc, 2016 WL 3282197, No. 11-5052 (D.S.D. Jun. 10, 2016) This case has occasionally shown up in my Westclip, but this time I’m writing about it because the court set forth … Continue reading →

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Functionality: it’s in the bag

Posted on June 16, 2016 by rtushnet

Schutte Bagclosures Inc. v. Kwik Lok Corp., No. 12-cv-5541 (S.D.N.Y. Jun. 14, 2016)   Following up from previous post on an earlier ruling. (Thanks to an eagle-eyed correspondent who probably knows way more than anyone else wants to know about … Continue reading →

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Political party bars use of name and logo by dissidents

Posted on June 14, 2016 by rtushnet

HT Eric Goldman. This is one of those cases that seems to be an extreme outlier, but then again see United We Stand America v. United We Stand America, New York, applying the Lanham Act to similar but perhaps more … Continue reading →

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TM Scholars’ roundtable, part 6

Posted on June 10, 2016 by rtushnet

Research Directions Discussants:  Laura Heymann: What is the end of empirical work? Which of our legal principles are based on assumptions or are not meant to be connected to the Q of how consumers actually behave?  Lots of research about … Continue reading →

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