Ruling in Emoji Beach Ball IP Case Left Me Confused š–Kangaroo v. Amazon
This case involves the alleged counterfeiting of emoji beach balls on Amazon. It doesn’t get into emoji-specific IP issues and devolves into a garbled tangle over Amazon marketplace product catalog issues. Still, EMOJI LAW ALERT!!! š² The plaintiff makes emoji…
More Kardashian Drama: A Legal Fight Over Ownership of the Kimoji Emoji Set–Liebensohn v. Kardashian (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Gabriella Ziccarelli [Ericās introductory note: I have made a personal life choice to ignore the entire Kardashian enterprise and their constant and often faux drama (except that I have occasionally mocked the Kardashians in my law school…
Do Adjacent Organic Search Results Constitute Trademark Infringement? Of Course Not…But…–America CAN! v. CDF
A charitable fundraising organization,Ā America CAN!, has a registered trademark in the phrase āWrite off the car, not the Kid.ā The organization purports to help the education of high risk youths, and it claims that “100% of the net proceeds go…
TTAB Denies Trademark Registration for #MagicNumber108 Tagmark–In re DePorter (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Alexandra Jane Roberts After 1908, beleaguered Chicago Cubs fans waited 108 long years for their team to win the world series again. And Grant DePorter, whose application to register #MagicNumber108 as a trademark for shirts was at…
Filtering Software Defeats Another Lawsuit–PC Drivers v. Malwarebytes
I blogged about this case in September. PC Drivers makes software that claims to help speed up users’ computers. Malwarebytes blocked it as a “potentially unwanted program,” or PUP. Litigation ensued. In the prior ruling, Malwarebytes won big, but then…
Top Internet Law Developments of 2018
My schedule tends to get busy around each new year, so my year-end recaps keep coming later and later. I hope it’s better late than never. Itās been a rough year for Internet law. As I tweeted in June: When…
2H 2018 Quick Links, Part 3 (Keyword Advertising)
* St. George Executive Shuttle LLC v. Western Trails Charter & Tours LLC, 2018 WL 3350348 (D. Utah July 9, 2018). This is a competitive keyword advertising lawsuit involving the purported trademark āSt. George Shuttleā (St. George is a city…
2H 2018 Quick Links, Part 2 (Trademarks)
* Ā Chanel, Inc. v. Wgaca, Ā 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158077 (SDNY Sept. 14, 2018): Chanel’s amended complaint plausibly alleges that WGACA’s use of the hashtag #WGACACHANEL infringes Chanel’s trademarks. It alleges that WGACA conjoined its acronym with the Chanel trademark…
Best and Worst Internet Laws [Repost from Concurring Opinionsā Archive]
[In 2007, I guest-blogged at the group law professor blog Concurring Opinions. With the demise of that blog, I am now archiving my guest posts on my own blog. This postĀ first appeared on February 15, 2007.] __ [Preface: Iāve already…
The Ongoing Saga of the Florida Bar’s Angst About Competitive Keyword Advertising
In August, I reported on the Florida Bar’s continued angst about regulating competitive keyword advertising by lawyers. Read my post, “The Florida Bar and Competitive Keyword Advertising: A Tragicomedy (in 3 Parts),” for the full background. The short story is…