Tenth Circuit Kills the Initial Interest Confusion Doctrine–1-800 Contacts v. Lens.com
…consumer seeks a particular trademark holder’s product and instead is lured to the product of a competitor by the competitor’s use of the same or a similar mark.” If this…
Think You Want To Be Told About Product Placements In Movies? Think Again (Forbes Cross-Post)
…how regulators can easily miss the mark when imposing mandatory disclosures for consumers’ benefit. For every consumer success story like the food “Nutrition Facts” labels (even that success is debatable),…
Some 47 USC 230 Cases From the Past Year You Might Have Missed (Because I Didn’t Blog Them)
…Perfect 10 case. This time Perfect 10 sued Giganews for providing a commercial service to access USENET newsgroups. I’ll have more to say about the copyright and trademark angles of…
Differences Between Consumer Surveys for Trademark Cases and False Advertising Cases
…advertising has a broader range of possible meanings that a consumer could ascribe. In trademarks, consumers are often asked if they recognize a mark or if the mark is similar…
A Judge Hopes Mark Zuckerberg Enjoys His Money Because “He’s Going to Hurt a Lot of People”–US v. Culver
…For more background, see the DOJ press release and the judgment. This post focuses on the case’s sentencing, where a judge’s rant about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg led to a…
Minnesota’s Proposed Anti-Trademark Bullying Statute Misses the Mark (Guest Blog Post)
…rights granted to the trademark holder.” While I am all for educating the public about what is and what is not trademark bullying, I don’t think that the term “trademark…
N.Y. Yankees Block Clothing Manufacturer’s “Baseball’s Evil Empire” Trademark Registration (Catch-Up Post)
…Evil Enterprises filed a trademark application for the mark “Baseball’s Evil Empire” for various clothing. The Yankees opposed the mark on three grounds: (1) likelihood of confusion; (2) false suggestion…
Ex-Employer’s Hijacking of a LinkedIn Account Is a Publicity Rights Violation–Eagle v. Morgan
…name of an ex-employee (if you are a company) or mark of a company (if you are a contractor) in an account can be risky, absent contractual authorization. – Possession…
Another Google AdWords Advertiser Avoids Trademark Liability–Whipple v. Brigman
…“nascar shuttle,” and “Charlotte NC tour.” The court responds poorly to the plaintiff’s arguments, saying that the plaintiff overclaims its trademark ownership (1) by asserting rights in the NASCAR mark…
Revisiting the Ninth Circuit’s 1979 AMF v. Sleekcraft Case Post-Remand (Guest Blog Post)
…of the likelihood of confusion multi-factor test. The test prescribes that a court look to: (1) strength of the mark; (2) proximity of the goods; (3) similarity of the marks;…