SDNY: For purposes of a MtD, Defendant’s affirmative defenses (e.g. fair use) must be evident from the face of the complaint. Here, while defendant’s own mark prominently appeared alongside plaintiff’s mark on its packaging, whether this was fair use could not be determined at the 12b6 stage.
SDNY – Northstar v ICON re use of REBECCA MINKOFF trademark
Sub-licensee sought to continue use of trademark after transfer of trademarks to third party.
Text of Northstar v ICON
SAD gone bad!
This could be an important story for brand professionals. County star Luke Combs won a $250K copyright judgment against an ailing fan. Now, the fan says she didn’t know about the suit (sic), and he says he didn’t know about the suit (sic)
If you’ve been following U.S. TM and copyright litigation trends, then you
Text of Decision in Vans v MSCHF: Citing BAD SPANIELS, Second Circuit upholds preliminary injunction of MSCHF Wavy Baby Shoe
From the decision:
The main issues in this appeal are governed by the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, 599 U.S. 140 (2023). Applying Jack Daniel’s, we conclude that Vans is likely to prevail in arguing that MSCHF’s Wavy Baby shoes used Vans’ marks
AI Litigation List
Photoplaza v Herbal Brands: cert petition from Ninth Cir. re personal jurisdiction over Amazon resellers in TM case
Question presented:
Whether a seller whose products ship nationwide is
subject to personal jurisdiction in every forum into which
even one of its products is shipped.
Factual background from petition:
Respondent is a Delaware corporation with its principal
place of business in Arizona and is in the business of
selling health and wellness
Latham brings in rem action in EDVA against 38 “LW”-variant domain names used to scam clients
From the complaint:
An unknown scammer has maliciously used the Abusive Domain Names in violation of Latham’s trademark rights to unlawfully, and in bad faith, derive a profit by defrauding members of the public. In the
Resources from Conners Inn CLE on “Sorting the Real From The Fake” – IP Issues and AI
Our Powerpoint “Sorting the Real From the Fake” – Mel Gardner and Marty Schwimmer
Slides from our presentation “Sorting the Real from the Fake” – Conners Inn CLE
Google Research Explains Test-to-Image Technology
Matt Sag article on Copyright Safety for Generative AI
Recent cases:
·Silverman et al v. OpenAI, Inc.
Pom Wonderful Trade Dress Suit Dismissed at 12b6 – SDNY
Judges tend not to go thru a full likelihood-of-confusion analysis at 12b6 but here you are.
The Court found that the WONDERFUL packaging and Defendant’s packaging do not possess “striking similarity” (sic). The Court notes that while their were similarities . . .
The handling of the third factor, channels of trade was a bit
SDNY: Justiciable Controversy over Brazilian Bum Bum Cream
Apollo Health and Beauty Care Inc. v. Sol De Janeiro USA Inc. et al, No. 1:2022cv07719 – Document 65 (S.D.N.Y. 2023):
