New Reality TV Show IP Case
RDF Media Ltd. v. Fox Broadcasting Co., 74 USPQ2d 1769 (C.D. Cal. May 11, 2005) [BNA subscription required]. The producers of “Wife Swap UK” sued Fox for its “Trading Spouses” TV show, alleging copyright infringement and direct/contributory trade dress misappropriation….
Trademark Adjacency Presentation
I’m giving a talk at Law & Society Association’s annual meeting this Thursday in Las Vegas called “Trademark Adjacency.” A preview of my slides.
New Gripe Site Case–Faegre & Benson v. Purdy
Faegre & Benson v. Purdy, Civil File No. 03-6472 (D. Minn. Apr. 27, 2005). Another ruling in the long-running story of William Purdy, an anti-abortionist who uses extreme forms of gripe sites against his targets. This particular ruling was a…
New Initial Interest Confusion Case in Sixth Circuit
Stilson & Associates v. Stilson Consulting Group, 2005 Fed. App. 0363N (6th Cir. May 6, 2005). Alden Stilson founded a civil engineering firm in the 1940s called “Alden Stilson & Associates.” By the 1980s, the name devolved to “Stilson &…
New Search Engine Keyword Lawsuit–Panicware v. Stopzilla
Panicware v. International Software Systems Solutions (SDNY complaint filed April 27, 2005). Panicware is suing a competitor Stopzilla for purchasing ads triggered by the keyword “POP-UP STOPPER,” which purportedly diverts Panicware’s customers. As the press release says, “There is no…
Calboli on Trademark Assignment in Gross
My colleague Irene Calboli has written a paper on trademark assignment in gross entitled Trademark Assignment With Goodwill: A Concept Whose Time Has Gone, scheduled to be published in the Florida Law Review later this year. She thoroughly recounts the…
Widmaier on Internet Trademark Law
Uli Widmaier of Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson LLP has written an important new article, Use, Liability, and the Structure of Trademark Law, 33 Hofstra L. Rev. 603 (2004). The article makes a persuasive argument why keyword triggering should…
Walmart Foundation Uses Copyright to Curtail Griper
The Walmart Foundation has gone after the gripe site “walmart-foundation.org” using 512(c)(3) notices to take down images that the griper took from walmartfoundation.org. A few observations about this: * copyright is an extremely effective tool against gripers. Using a 512(c)(3)…
House Passes Trademark Dilution Revision Act
The House has passed the Trademark Dilution Revision Act and sent it to the Senate. The law is pretty sweepingly favorable for trademark owners–not a lot of good news for trademark defendants. UPDATE: The law has passed. My comments on…
My Take on Google v. American Blinds
Google v. American Blinds & Wallpaper Factory, 2005 WL 832398 (N.D. Cal. March 30, 2005). I’m a little late blogging the case, but I finally had a chance to read the opinion. On one level, the opinion isn’t all that…