- Berkeley: “Police chief sends sergeant to reporter’s home after midnight to demand article revision” [Poynter] In 1932, a New York Congressman convened a hearing to blast theater critics for harming the welfare of Broadway shows [Philip Scranton, Bloomberg]
- “Blasphemy and free speech” [Paul Marshall, Hillsdale "Imprimis," PDF] “Egyptian Christian Imprisoned for 6 Years for Insulting Mohammed” [Volokh]
- What is it about Montana and election free speech these days? [Volokh] Judge denies Ron Paul campaign request to unmask source of anti-Huntsman video [Paul Alan Levy, earlier] “Eliot Spitzer Bucks Liberal Orthodoxy: ‘Citizens United Was Correct’” [TheDC] If you rely on the NY Times for what you know about Citizens United, you’re probably misinformed [Wendy Kaminer, Atlantic]
- “In which Ben Bagdikian, alleged scourge of media monopolies, frets at the possibility of more TV channels” [BBC via Jesse Walker]
- Guernsey as a haven for libel tourism? [Annie Machon] “Someday I will commission a study of the relationship between defamation lawsuit threats and illiteracy.” [@Popehat on Gawker item]
- “Key Techdirt SOPA/PIPA Post Censored By Bogus DMCA Takedown Notice” [Mike Masnick]
- Overly aggressive trademark lawyers? “Their mothers love them too, in a prone-to-sudden-weeping sort of way.” [Popehat; earlier on Louis Vuitton v. Penn Law case]
Posts tagged as:
trademarks
A student organization at Penn Law created a poster for a fashion-law event playing off the well-known design of luggage-and-handbag purveyor Louis Vuitton. Lawyers for the luxury firm fired off a cease-and-desist letter, but the Penn law department declined to comply, a stance that Eugene Volokh finds persuasive: ” I think the use of the marks can’t qualify as dilution, is unlikely to confuse, and is likely to be a fair use in any event.” Another view: Ron Coleman (dilution a possibility).
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On the trademark-assertiveness front, as readers of this site know, they’ve been no strangers to controversy. Perhaps as a gesture of goodwill toward critics they’d consider calling off the lawsuit threats against other legitimate charities that attempt to use the color pink?
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“The Village Voice is giving up on a scheme to force rivals to pay for permission to use the phrase ‘best of.’” [Paid Content]
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Eric Goldman is not a fan of the parties’ handling of Fancaster v. Comcast, Inc., in which two companies are battling over noncompeting uses of a business name that neither has been able to turn into much of a success. That hasn’t kept them from shoveling a lot of money at lawyers over three and a half years.
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The proposed law is being promoted as a way of blocking piratical “rogue” sites, but once it’s up and working, and internet providers have begun automatically blocking sites from a list continually updated by the government, it won’t stop with copyright and trademark infringers. Extending the interdiction to other sorts of sites will be a relatively simple and straightforward matter:
With the legal framework in place, expanding it to cover other conduct — obscenity, defamation, “unfair competition,” patent infringement, publication of classified information, advocacy in support of terror groups — would be a matter of adding a few words to those paragraphs.
How long before a sentimental Congress yields to demands to block suicide- or anorexia-promotion sites, or perhaps those accused of glorifying the taking of illegal drugs or profiting from depictions of animal cruelty? [Julian Sanchez, Cato, more; earlier] More: Stephen DeMaura and David Segal, Roll Call (potential use against political candidates), Bill Wilson (ALG), The Hill, Stanford Law Review, “Don’t Break the Internet”.
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Paul Alan Levy finds it hard to sympathize with either side of the much-noted trademark dispute, and notes that before the restaurant chain sicced its lawyers on him, Vermont t-shirt silk-screener Bo Muller-Moore had himself sought to trademark the “Kale” version of the slogan: “why should Muller-Moore be able to prevent other members of the public from making T-shirts with the same slogan?” [CL&P, earlier]
The slogan “Eat More Kale” gets a Vermont t-shirt silk-screener in trouble with the fast-food chain. [Gothamist]
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A happy ending (kinda) to the cease-and-desist battle that began when the giant food company decided the toucan on the Maya Archaeology Initiative’s logo was too reminiscent of its Froot Loops mascot. [Kevin Underhill/Forbes via Musing Minds, earlier]
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“Chapman High School, whose athletics teams have been known as the Fighting Irish since 1967, has been formally asked by the University of Notre Dame to change its leprechaun logo due to the college’s trademark on the image.” [Yardbarker]
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- UK panel declines to ban “I like gin” tea ad [Campaign]
- Do pics of tree-shaped air fresheners violate trademark rights of product marketer? [PoL]
- Man’s EU trademark for “Keep Calm and Carry On” raises hackles [Maria Bustillos, The Awl]
- When was the last time Congress chose to repeal a law restricting employers? Surely more recently than with the Portal to Portal Act of 1947 [Fox, Jottings]
- NYC: “City’s Top Lawyer Details Payouts of $561 Million in Lawsuits” [NYT]
- Calif. Gov. Brown vetoes attorney-backed bill widening fee entitlement where claimed damages not recovered [CJAC]
- Ira Stoll has been assembling a list of cost-free measures to help the economy, #17 is the proposed EPA-curbing Cement Regulatory Relief Act, #13 is “Eliminate requirements for legal ads in print newspapers in connection with business formation.” [Future of Capitalism]
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“The Maya Archaeology Initiative is fighting back against claims by Kellogg North America that a bird depicted in MAI’s logo is too similar to ‘Toucan Sam,’ the fictional spokesbird for Froot Loops cereal.” In a response to the cease-and-desist letter from Kellogg lawyers, the Central American cultural philanthropy “noted the differences between the two toucans, including coloration, beak shape, and the fact that MAI’s bird is based on birds that actually exist in nature.” [Lowering the Bar](& welcome TechDirt readers)
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We’ve reported several times on the doings of a litigant who has asserted trademark rights over the use of the word “Edge” in videogames and related products and aggressively gone after many outfits whose names include that not-unusual word. Now another court, this time in Britain, has handed him a stinging rebuke. [Rob Beschizza, BoingBoing]
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Lowering the Bar has more on the trademark dispute between the International House of Pancakes (restaurant) and the International House of Prayer (church)(earlier).
The Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization continues to take an aggressive stance against other groups using “for the cure” phrasing in breast cancer charitable efforts, part of a wider trend toward disputes between non-profits on trademark issues. [Minneapolis Star-Tribune, earlier]
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- More views on California prisoner release: Steve Chapman (California can incarcerate less and be safer), John Eastman/City Journal (state’s pols share blame for conditions), Sarah Hart, FedSoc SCOTUScast (sharing dissenters’ foreboding). Earlier here and here;
- Stephen Carter, “Economic Stagnation Explained, at 30,000 Feet” [Bloomberg/RCP]
- Long-running legal campaign aimed at blocking new coal-fired power plants [Conn Carroll, Examiner]
- Unconsciously? “We hope it sends a message that if you … unconsciously ignore the law, you could go to jail.” [WSJ Law Blog on prosecution of executive following pool drain entrapment death]
- Following outcry: “Disney withdraws application to trademark ‘SEAL Team 6′” [AP, earlier]
- More fact-checking of Scott Horton Guantanamo Harper’s article mysteriously awarded prize by ASME [Alex Koppelman/AdWeek, Joe Carter/First Things, Jack Shafer/Slate (citing "slipperiness and many flights of illogic"), FishBowlNY, Politico, Noah Davis/Business Insider, Cutline, earlier] Horton is a lecturer at Columbia Law and his piece drew on work done at Seton Hall Law. More: defense of Horton at leftist TruthOut site;
- Germans hesitate to join nanny-state parade [four years ago on Overlawyered]
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- The Economist on the future of the legal business;
- Hairpin reversals of fortune in long-running Barbie v. Bratz doll fight [Cal Biz Lit, earlier]
- As I note in Schools for Misrule, institutional reform litigation is alive and well: Reinhardt says 9th Circuit should take over VA’s mental health efforts, Kozinski dissents [LAT, AP, The Recorder]
- Court rejects Koch suit over spoof website posing as Koch’s to make political points [EFF, earlier]
- “Romeo and Juliet” amendment could soften harsh Texas sex-offense laws [Lenore Skenazy] Law isn’t especially protective of teen boys persuaded to sign paternity declarations [Amy Alkon]
- “Disney Trademarks ‘Seal Team 6′” [Atlantic Wire]
- Great moments in human rights law: UK high court rules airplane hijackers should have been admitted to country as refugees [five years ago on Overlawyered]
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A spokeswoman for the baseball team said there was “no proof” of the woman’s claim. “This is a wonderful country,” said [Alice] McGillion, “where anybody can sue for anything, even when the allegations are over 70 years old.” [NY Post] More: Unbeige (on possible evidence for claim).
Also on sports logo law: “Can I legally get myself tattooed with a pro sports team’s logo?” [Cecil Adams, The Straight Dope]
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