Tuesday, January 01, 2019

Parody as evidence of fame?

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I was skeptical about the idea that the National Geographic golden frame was recognizable as a mark on its own, but parodic use (in conjunct...
Thursday, December 27, 2018

Actual confusion provides evidence of irreparable harm

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Home Comfort Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. v. Ken Starr, Inc., 2018 WL 3816745, No. 18-cv-00469-JLS-DFM (C.D. Cal. Jul. 24, 2018) ...

Almond milk name isn't deceptive to reasonable consumers

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Painter v. Blue Diamond Growers, No. 17-55901, 2018 WL 6720560, --- Fed.Appx. ---- (9th Cir. Dec. 20, 2018) Painter alleged that Blue ...

Court sanctions plaintiffs for inaccurate images of product labels in complaint

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Hunt v. Sunny Delight Beverages Co., No. 18-cv-00557-JLS-DFM, 2018 WL 6786265 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 18, 2018) Some Sunny Delight beverages b...

9th Circuit easily rejects In re GNC's "all scientists must agree" standard for falsity

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Sonner v. Schwabe North America, Inc., --- F.3d ----, No. 17-55261, 2018 WL 6786616 (9th Cir. Dec. 26, 2018) Happy holidays to me! ...
Friday, December 21, 2018

Amicus Brief of Scholars of Corpus Linguistics in Rimini Street v. Oracle

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Just found this use of linguistics super interesting. Abstract: The question presented in Rimini Street v. Oracle is whether the Copyrig...

Avvo's Pro designation is opinion/puffery

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Davis v. Avvo, Inc., --- F.Supp.3d ----, 2018 WL 6629269 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 19, 2018) Davis, an attorney, sued Avvo for false advertising ...

More B&B: Fraud on the PTO that led to years of extra litigation isn't "exceptional" for fee purposes

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B&B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc., No. 17-1570 (8th Cir. Dec. 21, 2018) H/T C.E. Petit. This comedy of errors might (m...
Thursday, December 20, 2018

"soluble" coffee case grinds on

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Suchanek v. Sturm Foods, Inc., 2018 WL 6617106,   No. 11-CV-565-NJR-RJD (S.D. Ill. Jul. 3, 2018) I don’t know why this took so long to...
Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Program on Private Law call for fellowship applicants in private law and IP

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PROJECT ON THE FOUNDATIONS OF PRIVATE LAW POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP IN PRIVATE LAW AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, 2019 CALL FOR APPLICATIO...
Monday, December 17, 2018

"As seen on TV" can be false advertising if seller hasn't been seen on TV

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E. Mishan & Sons, Inc. v. Smart & Eazy Corp., 2018 WL 6528496, No. 18 Civ. 3217 (PAE) (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 12, 2018) Plaintiff Emson...
Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Cheezit, the food cops! 2d Circuit reinstates claim over "made with whole grain" where most grain content is white

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Mantikas v. Kellogg Co., No. 17-2011 (2d Cir. Dec. 11, 2018) Plaintiffs bought Cheez-It crackers that were labeled “whole grain” or “m...
Tuesday, December 11, 2018

low volume of confused callers doesn't establish irreparable harm

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TrueNorth Companies, L.C. v. Trunorth Warranty Plans, LLC, No. C17-31-LTS, --- F.Supp.3d ----, 2018 WL 6438370 (N.D. Iowa Dec. 7, 2018) ...

Pleading compliance w/test rules doesn't plausibly plead compliance for consumer plaintiffs

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Anglin v. Edgewell Personal Care Co., 2018 WL 6434424, No. 4:18-CV-00639-NCC (E.D. Mo. Dec. 7, 2018) Are there people who believe that...
Thursday, December 06, 2018

Juxtaposition of claims about protein amounts and sources plausibly creates falsity

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Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. HBS Int’l Corp., --- F.3d ----, 2018 WL 6314282 , No. 17-13884 (11 th Cir. Dec. 4, 2018) Hi-Tech sue...