TWiT’s Trademark Lawsuit Against Twitter Sent Back to the Drawing Board
The popular and long-running show “This Week in Tech,” commonly called TWiT, sued Twitter. TWiT provides audio and video content branded under the TWiT trademark. It alleges that Twitter’s offering of video services and content under the TWITTER brand infringes…
The Ninth Circuit STILL Thinks Keyword Metatags Matter in 2018–Adidas v. Skechers
Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit ruled about trademarked stripes on tennis shoes. To me, legally weaponizing dots in three lines on a shoe predictably leads to wasteful and possibly anti-consumer litigation. However, instead of critiquing the opinion generally, I’ll isolate just…
Another Court Says Competitive Keyword Advertising Doesn’t Cause Confusion
This is a lawsuit between two Alzheimer’s-related non-profit organizations, the Alzheimer’s Association (the more established and better-funded group) and the Alzheimer’s Foundation (the relative upstart). I blogged a prior 2015 ruling. The potential for brand collisions in consumers’ minds seems…
Recapping a Year’s Worth of Section 230 Cases That Got Stuck in My Blogging Queue
[Though most of these rulings are defense-favorable, Congress recently eviscerated Section 230 and isn’t done ruining its greatest online policy masterpiece] Twitter Defeats Defamation Claim As part of a custody dispute, a former spouse allegedly disparaged the other spouse in…
Competitive Keyword Advertising Doesn’t Show Bad Intent–ONEpul v. BagSpot
This case involves dispensers of plastic bags for picking up dogshit. The plaintiff has a registered trademark in the brand “ONEpul.” The defendant describes its bags as “one-pull” (and yet, the term “descriptive fair use” doesn’t appear in the opinion…
Conference on IP Enforcement at Trade Shows, UNLV, October 4, 2018 (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Marketa Trimble The practice of IP law fascinates IP law enthusiasts, and it can be stimulating for others as well. The practice has even been considered exciting enough for IP lawyers to be portrayed in a sophisticated beer…
2H 2017 & Q1 2018 Quick Links, Part 1: Copyright, Trademarks, Keyword Ads
[As you can tell, my ability to prepare these Quick Links posts has degraded substantially…better late than never?] Copyright * The Executive Corp. v. Oisoon, LLC, 2017 WL 4310113 (M.D. Tenn. Sept. 28, 2017). A default judgment: “A section 1202(b)(1)…
Maternity Clothing Trademark Dispute Has Dubious Support–Blanqi v. Bao Bei (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Alexandra J. Roberts This one’s for the ladiesss (all the pregnant ladies, all the pregnant ladies)! Plaintiff Blanqi makes high-end shapewear and maternity products. It has a pending application to register SPORTSUPPORT as a trademark for lingerie…
Top Internet Law Developments of 2017 (Very Late)
[It’s a sign of my busy 2018 that I’m only now posting my annual Internet Law year-in-review recap. Better late than never?] 2017 was a generally OK year for me personally. My wife’s health has been stable, I was able…
Copyright Office Won’t Register ‘Middle-Finger Pictogram’ As Literary Work–Ashton v. Copyright Office
Ashton created a coffee mug displaying the words “People Pleaser in Recovery” on the outside, the word “Refill” on the inside bottom, and a single-fingered salute on the outside bottom: Ashton applied for copyright registrations for 2D artwork and a…