Google Defeats “Negligent Digital Architecture” Claim–Starr™ v. Google
According to her website (sorry, no link love here), Katherine Starr™ is a 2-time Olympian (she swam on Great Britain’s swim team under the name “Annabelle Cripps“) and a sexual abuse survivor. She now spends a lot of time thinking…
Seventh Circuit Limits Email Service to Chinese SAD Scheme Defendants–Kangol v. Hangzhou Silk
There have been thousands of SAD Scheme cases in the Northern District of Illinois, but this extensive litigation activity has produced only a small handful of Seventh Circuit opinions. This lack of appellate review has played a major role in…
Raj Abhyanker’s Firm Ordered to Pay $90k+ for Ill-Advised Trademark Enforcement Lawsuit–LegalForce v. LawFirms
In one of Judge Alsup’s last rulings before he retired, after a bench trial he rejected LegalForce’s trademark claims over the LawFirms logo (the first logo was pre-litigation; the defendant switched to the second logo during the litigation). (Reminder: LegalForce…
Judge Shopping & Schedule A (Guest Blog Post)
By guest blogger Sarah Fackrell, Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law Plaintiffs are often allowed to choose their own forum. But they’re not supposed to be able to choose their own judge. And yet, in the U.S. District…
SAD Scheme Plaintiff Gets Default Win But Blows the Layup on Damages–Shenzen Huajie v. Shenzen Leyibei
This is a rare Seventh Circuit opinion on the SAD Scheme (it’s nonprecedential). The defense didn’t contest the appeal, but even without opposition, the rightsowner still whiffs. The court contextualizes the case: Intellectual property lawsuits like this one have flooded…
U.S. Supreme Court Narrows Secondary Liability in Copyright Law–Cox v. Sony (Guest Blog Post)
Guest Blog Post by Prof. Tyler Ochoa On March 25, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that Cox Communications, an internet access provider, is not liable for file-sharing infringements committed by its users. Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment,…
What Does a Hologram Trademark Signify When the Hologram Isn’t There?–Upper Deck v. Pixels
Pixels is a print-on-demand vendor. Pixels’ users have uploaded various images associated with Michael Jordan sports trading cards. Here’s an example: If this were a framed original of the trading card, the First Sale doctrine should apply. If it were…
Another Reminder: Lawsuits Over Competitive Keyword Ads Are Stupid
This case involves two competitors that buy homes for cash: plaintiff Brothers Buy Homes and defendant John Buys Bay Area Homes. The defendant bought competitive keyword ads. Initially, the defendant displayed the plaintiff’s trademark in the ads, apparently due to…
A “But They’re ‘Counterfeiters’!” Argument Doesn’t Clinch a SAD Scheme TRO–Emojico v. Schedule A Defendants
I blog SAD Scheme cases when they catch my attention, not necessarily because they are the most consequential ones. I’m blogging this one mostly out of schadenfreude. Emojico–the company that has been menacing legtimate users of the word “emoji” for…
A SAD Scheme Plaintiff Unsuccessfully Plays an IP Privilege Card–Price v. Schedule A Defendants
All SAD Scheme cases are, by definition, sad. This case achieves even greater depths: it’s Flori-dumb level SAD. * * * The plaintiff, Price, has a trademark registration in the phrase “White Privilege Card,” for novelty plastic identification cards. Ugh….