Ron Coleman on the law affecting brands, the Internet & free speech
It rejects the stupid and unconstitutional argument that “commercial use” under the Lanham Act’s dilution provisions can be found where there is simply “diversion.” Originally posted 2013-07-10 14:26:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
City walls including David’s Tower and the Valley of Hinnom, from Jaffa Gate Originally uploaded by Likelihood of Confusion. I was in Israel last week. In Israel there is more capacity for confusion, and for clarity, than anywhere else. You can see my abbreviated travelogue by clicking on this picture of the city walls of Jerusalem, overlooking the very gate of Hades (appropriate for a litigator). Originally posted 2013-11-03 23:05:05. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Read more
First published February 14, 2013. I have no problem using the TTABlog for a blog launching point every week. Why would I when I can riff on a post such as this one, about an important decision involving the LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION between a “nationally advertised brand” — Zyrtec, the allergy medication — and a store brand, in this case Walgreens’ WAL-ZYR: The Board sustained this Section 2(d) opposition to registration of the mark WAL-ZYR for ““pharmaceuticals,... Read more
The Ninth Circuit sounds really right on this: Service providers should not be able to change their terms of service arbitrarily without notifying their registered users, according to the judges in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The decision on the case of Douglas v. Talk America (PDF) could affect how web site operators handle changes made to user agreements, regardless of what the user originally agreed to…. “Parties to a contract... Read more
Really, just Sarah Burstein: Okay, okay. Sarah and Dennis Crouch. “Iconic,” of course, could stand in for “secondary meaning,” in this case acquired distinctiveness. But that is essentially a judicial crapshoot, so why not sue? If your company is big enough, you’ve got a pretty good shot of getting your own trademark phantom tag. Read more
The Alex Kozinski dustup has everyone clucking his tongue over the seemingly inevitable march toward realization of the dictum that there is no expectation of privacy for anything going on or through the Internet. One would think that is certainly the case of text messaging, following the sad case of Kwame Kilpatrick. So what do we make of this, from Orin Kerr?: The Ninth Circuit handed down a very important decision today in Quon v.... Read more
Uh, not really. Not in this lifetime. But you can get it enforced in Canada, which is the next best thing. Originally posted 2010-09-13 10:50:42. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Read more
This is big, but stay calm. Though I hardly can. I took some heat a little while ago for suggesting, contrary to my generally skeptical view of what constitutes trademark use in commerce (a legal premise of infringement), that there’s something very flabby about the argument that the use of trademark-protected words as search terms by competitors can never be infringement. (I never said it always is.) And until now, district courts in the Second... Read more
We alluded to this story in an earlier post. Evidently Daman Wayans’s attempt to file a trademark application for the word “Nigga” continues to hit a brick wall. Forget “immoral or scandalous,” which, as we have said before, is an increasingly hopeless position for national government to take on almost anything in this enlightened era. Interestingly, though, this one will probably stick. Political correctness — in this case, quite correct! (most of the time) —... Read more
Originally posted on February 8, 2011. I try these days not to blog about blogging, but this item seemed like a good opportunity to depart from the general rule. My friend Ray Dowd of Copyright Litigation Blog fame has caught a little attention with this post listing “the top 50 intellectual property law blogs of all time,” according to Justia’s Blawgsearch. (Ray’s blog made the list, as did LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION® and pretty much all the usual... Read more
This post consists of one tweet about branding, the social moment, corporate ethics and all the things, by someone else. If the French Revolution were happening today, Ikea would be strategizing how to get its branding on the guillotines https://t.co/nrJZiJfAjB — Michael Malice (@michaelmalice) July 6, 2020 Originally posted 2020-07-05 22:45:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Read more
What if they called a conference on secondary liability on the Internet and no one told … well, me? It happens. I mean, that people could forget to tell me. Imagine! Whether the symposium itself really happened, well, there is a lot of circumstantial evidence. Al I’m saying is I just can’t swear to it myself. Nor could I fly to it myself because no one invited me, me, me! But evidently in March of... Read more
Cybercrimes have become a major industry. Ransomware has taken so much of the world hostage and it’s been proving to be difficult to contain, as many corporations have been giving in to ransom demands in order to get their data back. Cyber insurance is a beneficial step in terms of mitigating your risk as it often can cover legal costs as well. Learn more about the benefits of cyber insurance in the infographic below: Read more
Kevin Thompson of Cyberlaw Central, at considerable risk to life and limb, does a Skull-and-Bones themed Blawg Review. As a Princeton man I have my issues with this. But as a family man, I would not dare utter them. Originally posted 2012-05-22 12:52:42. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Read more