Friday, November 30, 2018

Copying others' claims without substantiation for one's own services can be false

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TRUSTID, Inc. v. Next Caller, Inc., No. 18-172-LPS, 2018 WL 6242493 (D. Del. Nov. 26, 2018) (report and recommendation) The magistra...
Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Restaurant can't bring unfair competition claim against Trump Old Post Office claim for using Trump's name to draw business

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K&D, LLC v. Trump Old Post Office, LLC, No. 17-731 (RJL), 2018 WL 6173449 (D.D.C. Nov. 26, 2018) Plaintiff owns Cork Wine Bar, loc...
Monday, November 26, 2018

Honey Badger don't care for different reasons: court fixes artistic relevance but still doubles down on transformativeness

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Gordon v. Drape Creative, Inc., No. 16-56715 (9th Cir. Nov. 20, 2018) Previous opinion discussed here ; amicus brief that may have inf...
Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Twitter's promise of free speech isn't false advertising just because it suspends abusive users

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Kimbrell v. Twitter Inc., 2018 WL 6025609, No. 18-cv-04144-PJH (N.D. Cal. Nov. 16, 2018) Kimbrell alleged that “Twitter employs twitte...

This is personal: Diet Coke obesity suit dismissed even after repleading

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Geffner v. Coca-Cola Co., 2018 WL 6039325, No. 17 Civ. 7952 (LLS) (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 31, 2018) Plaintiffs alleged that, by marketing Diet ...
Monday, November 19, 2018

Pipe down: court awards minimal disgorgement where willful falsity was limited in time

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Pipe Restoration Technologies, LLC v. Coast Building & Plumbing, Inc., 2018 WL 6012219, No. 13-cv-00499-JDE (C.D. Cal. Nov. 16, 2018) ...
Monday, November 12, 2018

Bringing a false advertising claim with unclean hands leads to fee award

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Certified Nutraceuticals, Inc. v. Avicenna Nutraceutical, LLC, 2018 WL 5840042, No. 16-cv-02810-BEN-BGS (S.D. Cal. Nov. 7, 2018) The c...

literal falsity still needs to be material, and court wants a survey or other direct evidence thereof

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LivePerson, Inc. v. [24]7.AI, Inc., 2018 WL 5849025, No. 17-cv-01268-JST (N.D. Cal. Oct. 26, 2018) LivePerson “provides online chat en...
Friday, November 09, 2018

False patent marking claim fails in cannabis case despite clear falsity/motive to crush competition: mostly it didn't work

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Kremerman v. Open Source Steel, LLC, 2018 WL 5785441, No. C17-953-BAT (W.D. Wash. Nov. 5, 2018) This case involved cannabis distillati...

Wipe on, wipe off: after survey excluded, plaintiff wins jury verdict on false advertising windshield protector claim

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Illinois Tool Works Inc. v. Rust-Oleum Corporation, 2018 WL 5810327, No. H-17-2084 (S.D. Tex. Jun. 21, 2018)   ITW’s Rain-X and Rust-Oleu...

In which I appear as a sideshow (but ABC gets the right result on TM/(c) claim based on news report)

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Manigault v. ABC Inc., 17-CV-7375 (KNF), 2018 WL 5818101 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 10, 2018) I show up in this opinion because I wrote a blog pos...

Straight-up falsity can't get preliminary injunction where lost sales can be calcuated

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Vault Cargo Management, LLC v. Rhino U.S.A., Inc., No. 18-cv-01517-H-LL, 2018 WL 5809516 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 6, 2018) The parties compete ...
Thursday, November 08, 2018

A watered-down finding of TM infringement: prevailing party gets $0 and no injunction, court tells it to go home

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Evoqua Water Technologies LLC v. M.W. Watermark, LLC, No. 16-cv-14, 2018 WL 5784073 (W.D. Mich. Nov. 5, 2018) Eric Goldman will probab...

Rally 'round the difference between valid and merely descriptive: 8th Circuit gives claimants much to ponder

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Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Inc. v. Rushmore Photo & Gifts, Inc., --- F.3d ----, 2018 WL 5726690 2018 WL 5726690, No. 17-1762, No. 17-18...