Tag Archives: trademark

Selfie restraint: It’s hard to show fame and irreparable harm

Posted on December 30, 2015 by rtushnet

ArcSoft, Inc. v. Cyberlink Corp., 2015 WL 9455516, No. 15-cv-03707 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 28, 2015)   ArcSoft makes the Perfect365 selfie editing app, and sued defendants for infringing and diluting the trademarks/trade dress of that app with their YouCam Perfect … Continue reading →

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one note on In re Tam: TM as right to suppress others’ speech

Posted on December 22, 2015 by rtushnet

Judge Reyna’s dissent makes a point that I think courts will find very hard to grapple with, whatever the fate of 2(a) or disparagement specifically: Judge Dyk concurs in the result today only because he believes the content of Mr. … Continue reading →

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Update: SanMedica v. Amazon favorably settles

Posted on December 22, 2015 by rtushnet

Victory is mine!  Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land!  Public Citizen represented me in a lawsuit to unseal the key information in SanMedica v. Amazon, a case that applied the 1-800 Contacts rule that ad … Continue reading →

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Defendant can’t take advantage of TM abandonment it created

Posted on December 17, 2015 by rtushnet

Axiom Worldwide, Inc. v. HTRD Group Hong Kong Ltd., 2015 WL 8113965, No. 8:11–cv–1468–T–33 (M.D. Fla. Oct. 30, 2015)   Axiom sued seeking to confirm its ownership of certain IP, including trademarks, related to medical devices, and for infringement resulting … Continue reading →

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Puerto Rico registration can’t constitutionally extend elsewhere

Posted on December 17, 2015 by rtushnet

Puerto Rico Coffee Roasters LLC v. Pan American Grain Manufacturing Co., Inc., 2015 WL 8551102, No. 3:15–CV–02099 (D.P.R. Dec. 11, 2015)   P.R. Coffee Roasters, which sells “Café Rico” coffee in P.R., sued Pan American for trademark infringement, false advertising, … Continue reading →

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Soliciting lawsuits against TM owner isn’t confusing use of TM owner’s mark

Posted on December 14, 2015 by rtushnet

AMCOL Sys., Inc. v. Lemberg Law, LLC, No. 3:15-3422, 2015 WL 8493955 (D.S.C. Dec. 10, 2015)   AMCOL provides debt collection services and is subject to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)’s ban on “harassment” in debt collection. AMCOL … Continue reading →

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Reading list: Redskins as insult and brand

Posted on December 12, 2015 by rtushnet

C. Richard King, Redskins: Insult and Brand (2016) Passionate, if somewhat repetitive (as perhaps all moral calls to action are), argument about the poisonous nature of the Washington football team’s name. King argues that the name isn’t just about insulting … Continue reading →

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Reading list: empirically testing tarnishment of movies

Posted on December 9, 2015 by rtushnet

Christopher Buccafusco, Paul J. Heald, & Wen Bu, Testing Tarnishment in Trademark and Copyright Law: The Effect of Pornographic Versions of Protected Marks and Works:   This Article [reports] the results of two novel experiments designed to test the effects … Continue reading →

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6th Circuit holds that targeted ads are commercial advertising or promotion

Posted on December 8, 2015 by rtushnet

Grubbs v. Sheakley Gp., Inc., 2015 WL 7964109, — F.3d – (6th Cir. Dec. 7, 2015)   District court’s ruling covered here (with my raised eyebrow).  The court of appeals affirms the dismissal of the RICO claims (they’re RICO claims), … Continue reading →

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Court mashes up Dastar and commercial speech doctrine to protect book from Lanham Act

Posted on December 7, 2015 by rtushnet

Keel v. Axelrod, No. 15-1507, 2015 WL 7733973 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 1, 2015)   Political operative David Axelrod wrote a book, Believer: My Forty Years in Politics. Frank Keel, a political and media consultant, sued under state and federal law … Continue reading →

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