43(B)log discusses the recent SPLENDA case (McNeil Nutritionals, LLC v. Heartland Sweeteners, LLC, — F.3d —-, 2007 WL 4478981 (3d Cir.) and its treatment of the use of house marks in mitigating confusion by ‘lookalike’ house brands.
DJ Action Over “Beetle”-shaped Toy Car
Alex Toys sells, among other things, toy cars. VW sent a demand letter alleging that some of its toy cars infringed its trade dress in the VW ‘beetle” (VW sells (or licenses) beetle-shaped cars). VW filed a complaint but never served it. Negotiations ensued but didn’t lead to resolution. Alex filed an action for a
Settlement in Seattle Furniture Trade Dress Dispute
Seattle Trademark Lawyer: “Bourne Ultimatum: Vancouver Importer Settles Trade Dress Case.”
The Angels Want To Wear My Red Soles
FemaleFirst: Christian Louboutin Battles Over Red Soles:
“Christian Louboutin is battling to trademark the signature red soles on all his shoe designs.
The shoe legend is fed up of other companies cashing in on his popularity by putting red soles on their own shoes to imitate his famous designs.”
Suicide Girls v God’s Girls
Prof Tushnet wins this month Pun In Blog Post Award with Trade Undress, discussing a trade dress suit between erotic photography site Suicide Girl’s and alleged competior God’s Girls. File this under “trade dress in web pages.”
Grinder v Grinder
McCormick, the spice company, has registration no 2,183,132, for a mark consisting of:
“the configuration of a round bottle that abruptly narrows at approximately one-third distance from the bottom. The bottle then remains a straight cylinder up to the cap. The cap is a round cylinder with sets of three raised vertical lines, spaced evenly
The Shape Of Food To Come
Engadget: “DIY 3D Printer utlizes hot air, sugar to craft random objects”
More on 3D printers here.
Trademark Blog trade dress archives here.
New Fertilizer In Old Bottles
43(B)log comments in a fertilizer comapny’s practice of selling its product in recycled soda bottles, As
pointed out, there’s an interesting issue of re-using bottles that themselves may have distinctive shapes but there’s an even more novel issue of claiming trade dress protection in that practice of having inconsistent packacging.
Vending Machines In Scotland
You Heard It Here, Uh, Early
Remember the Shape Blog? This is what I was talking about: Three-dimensional printers for $2000. You’re protecting your designs, right? When 3D printers are found in every college, there’ll be a Napster for jewelry. When they’re $500, the parts industry will be turned upside down. And at some point people will be able to