Be careful using it, lest you hear from zealous Olympics lawyers [Chalkie, Apr. 28]
Posts Tagged ‘trademarks’
Mutual of Omaha vs. Oprah Winfrey
Their lawyers are locked in a dispute over who gets to use the phrase “aha moment”. [L.A. Times, Omaha World-Herald, Yakima Herald-Republic]
May 14 roundup
- Yielding to pressure from state AGs, Craigslist will close “erotic services” section and replace with more highly moderated “adult services”; New York’s Cuomo is furious the site took unilateral action “in the middle of the night” rather than negotiating with him [NY Times, Hartford Courant, office of Connecticut AG (and longtime Overlawyered bete noire) Richard Blumenthal, Citizen Media Law, Above the Law] More: Ambrogi.
- Or they could absorb it and move on: “Bounty sues Brawny in paper towel tilt” [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
- Was granting patents relating to diagnostic analysis of human genes a mistake? Should courts undo it? Via constitutional law? Three different questions there [Ars Technica, Doc Gurley/San Francisco Chronicle]
- Canadian Human Rights Commission wants new ban on discrimination based on “social condition” (with concomitant penalties for hurtful speech premised on such condition) [Ken at Popehat]
- Luxury-goods makers’ suits against eBay over sale of counterfeits may be petering out [Frankel, American Lawyer]
- Today must be exotic-dancer-litigation day at Overlawyered: Trademark Trial and Appeal Board denies trademark protection for “Cuffs and Collar Mark” of Chippendales male exotic dancers [TTA Blog via Lowering the Bar, Ron Coleman, opinion in PDF]
- Allegations fail to stick: “Judge drops class-action suit on Teflon cookware” [AP/Des Moines Register, WSJ, American Lawyer; earlier here and here]
- Asbestos litigation ramps up against Detroit automakers after bankruptcy of many earlier defendants [five years ago on Overlawyered; up-to-the-minute report from Kirk Hartley]
“LIFE IS NUTZ v. LIFE IS GOOD”
“LIFE IS NUTZ seeks declaration that it does not infringe LIFE IS GOOD.” [Marty Schwimmer, Trademark Blog]
April 18 roundup
- Hospital can be sued for releasing mental patient who killed his wife ten days later [ABA Journal, Michigan]
- Pet-sitter draws probation on animal cruelty charges after letting pig overeat and get too fat [AP/Austin, Minn. Post-Bulletin]
- The government pressured states to raise drinking age to 21. So why didn’t the move save lives? [Miron/Tetelbaum, Forbes]
- “Goldman Sachs Tries To Bully Blogger” [Marc Randazza, Cit Media Law and Legal Satyricon; Ron Coleman, Likelihood of Confusion; Brian Baxter, American Lawyer; Martin Schwimmer, Trademark Blog (“I Don’t Think It’s The Dumbest Trademark Demand Letter I’ve Ever Seen”)]
- Dangers in using Title IX to go after sex imbalances in science and engineering, as Obama is said to want to do [Christina Hoff Sommers, Washington Post]
- Thomas Mundy and his attorney, frequent Overlawyered mentionee Morse Mehrban, have filed more than 200 ADA lawsuits against California merchants and other businesses, settling them for an income that opponents estimate as in excess of $300,000 a year each [L.A. Times back in January, California Civil Justice] But an Orange County jury took 18 minutes to dismiss Mundy’s suit against Del Taco [OC Register, MoreLaw, Ken @ Popehat and his followup] Noni Gotti’s 45-day spree of 41 lawsuits against 111 businesses and landlords in Santa Ana area [Jan Norman, OC Register; more on ADA filing mills]
- Police payouts up but hospital payouts down: “[New York] City Paid Out $568 Million for Lawsuits Last Year” [NY Politics; Ted yesterday]
- Another lawyer disclaimer with a sense of humor [Nicole Black/Legal Antics citing Kelly Phillips Erb/TaxGirl; earlier]
“Scariest Monster of All Sues for Trademark Infringement”
The WSJ’s page one is on the Monster Cable story, covered here a while back.
“The Last Best Place”: not a trademark yet
For years controversy has raged over a Las Vegas businessman and resort owner’s efforts to trademark the phrase, widely used as a description of Montana. (Missoula writer William Kittredge says he remembers coming up with the phrase himself.) Now, per TTA Blog, Montana Sen. Max Baucus has again included language in an appropriation bill to direct that (for the time being) no funds be expended by the PTO to register such a trademark.
Nordstrom trademark lawyers vs. “Beckon” yoga line
The retail chain sicced aggressive lawyers on two Colorado women who sold “Beckons” yoga gear, costing them a reported $70,000; Nordstrom now says it’s really sorry for the unpleasantness, not that it’s offered to reimburse them or anything. [Jim Harper/Cato “TechKnowledge”, TechDirt, Information Week; Scott Greenfield]
NRDC’s non-compliant onesie
Presumably the Natural Resources Defense Council, which filed the successful lawsuit under CPSIA to make unlawful the sale of large existing inventories of children’s goods, will yank from its online store its own infant offering before next Tuesday. On Twitter, an NRDC person said the group didn’t think its use of the garment as a premium was covered by the law because only manufacturers have to worry about testing, right? (Wrong.) Common Room and Patrick @ Popehat have the story. More: Kathleen Fasanella.
Do as we sue, not as we do, or something like that.
P.S. A totally different legal angle on “onesie”: I hadn’t realized Gerber claims ownership of the word and sends out nastygrams to back up that view.