Court Rejects Initial Interest Confusion Claims for Competitive Keyword Ads–Regalo v. Aborder
The litigants compete in the market for baby/pet gates. The incumbent sells under the brands “Regalo” and “Carlson.” The defendant “Aborder contends that the use of trademark advertising through the purchase of Amazon sponsored ads cannot constitute trademark infringement without…
Court Rejects Schedule A Claims Against Sellers of Compatible Parts/Accessories (Cross-Post)
[Cross posted with permission from Prof. Rebecca Tushnet’s Blog.] When they tell you that Schedule A cases are against counterfeiters, keep in mind that trademark owners are willing to call pretty much anything “counterfeiting,” including ads for compatible parts. Here,…
ACPA Doesn’t Apply to Vanity URLs–Athene Annuity v. Athene Group
The magistrate judge issued a default $2M+ ACPA damages award covering 160 allegedly violative “domain names.” On review, the supervising judge partially reverses, despite no objections from the defendants. In fact, only 1 of the 160 “domain names” is actually…
Judge Kness: the SAD Scheme “Should No Longer Be Perpetuated in Its Present Form”–Eicher Motors v. Schedule A Defendants
When I first encountered the SAD Scheme, I felt like Alice entering Wonderland. The scheme was so obviously whacked that I felt like I had tumbled into an upside-down jurisprudential world. I was sure that the SAD Scheme’s illegitimacy was…
Lawsuits Over Competitive Keyword Advertising Are Still Stupid–NRRM v. American Dream Auto Protect
This case involves two competitors in the industry of auto protection plans (VSCs). The rival’s affiliates bought the plaintiff’s trademark “CarShield” for competitive keyword ads. The plaintiff alleged: Defendant’s agents do not label or indicate that their generic ads direct…
Does Anyone Still Care About NFTs? (Yuga Labs, LLC v. Ripps) — Guest Blog Post
By Guest Blogger Tyler Ochoa Four years ago, NFTs were the hottest collectibles on the market and were being touted as the NBT (Next Big Thing). People were paying tens of thousands, or in some cases millions, of dollars (or…
Judge Ranjan Cracks Down on SAD Scheme Cases
Judge Nicholas Ranjan of the Western District of Pennsylvania has issued a standing order titled “‘SCHEDULE A’ CASE STANDING ORDER.” I couldn’t find the order on Judge Ranjan’s website or via standard Google searches. Instead, it appeared on the docket…
Catching Up on the Bogus “Yelp Law” Litigation Campaign–Tao v. Uniqlo
[Personal note: the Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton ruling took a lot of wind out of my blogging sails. First, the opinion is pure Calvinball. It makes me question everything I know about Internet “Law” when courts shamelessly disregard precedent…
Analyzing the Lululemon v. Costco Dupe Suit (Guest Blog Post)
Guest blog post by Profs. Sarah Fackrell & Alexandra J. Roberts Dupe culture is everywhere. Consumers seek out dupes online, in stores, and on social media, hoping to score less expensive versions of the luxury items they lust after; stores…
Reddit Defeats Lawsuit Over WallStreetBets Subreddit–Rogozinski v. Reddit
This is one of those oh-so-stupid hard-eyerolling lawsuits that I blog for coverage purposes, but I blog it joylessly and with annoyance at the wasted time. I previously summarized this case: Jaime Rogozinski, a/k/a “jartek,” created the r/WallStreetBets subreddit, which…