Leapers manufactures adjustable rifle scopes. A terminated manufacturing partner continued to make scopes similar in appearance to those of Leapers. Leapers sued, alleging infringement of its trade dress in the knurling (or texturing) of the knobs in its scopes. The exhibit to its complaint showing many side-by-sides is reproduced below. This is one of its
Delta Sues CheapFlightsFares.com for ‘Impersonation’
Delta sues discount flight aggregator CheapFlightsFares.com, alleging that defendant impersonates Delta (see para 44 of complaint).
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Text of LegalForce v LegalZoom Complaint re Unauthorized Practice of Law re Trademark Filing / Doc Prep Services
LegalForce RAPC is a law firm that is a large filer of trademark applications. It is wholly owned by Raj Abhyanker. LegalForce Inc. is a corporation that offers the TRADEMARKIA search service. LegalZoom offers automated legal document preparation services, including trademark application and preparation and filing. It provides access to an ‘independent network of attorneys’
Bill Lee, Non-Trademark Use, and Bonus Video of Eephus Pitch
Bill Lee was a left-handed pitcher, most notably for the Red Sox during the 70’s, at a time when left-handers were the target of unthinking prejudice. As a fellow-left-hander, I always had a soft spot for him after his quote that left-handers are the only one in the their right minds (brain hemisphere dominance joke).
Online Service Providers: Register Your DMCA Agent By December 31 or Lose Your Safe Harbor
Pictured above: OSP Losing DMCA Safe Harbor Protection Off Nantucket, William Bradford, ca. 1860, courtesy Met Museum of Art.
At the end of last year, the U.S. Copyright Office implemented a new online registration system for DMCA agent designations which replaces paper designations with online registration. At the end of this year, agent designations
Amicus Brief by Walter Dellinger in Masterpiece Cakeshop
Amicus Brief by Walter Dellinger, signed by among others, Floyd Abrams and Kathleen Sullivan, in favor of the couple.
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Whether a Requirement to Bake a Wedding Cake Should be Viewed as a ‘Speech Compulsion’ – amicus brief in Masterpiece Cakeshop (Gay wedding cake case)
Amicus brief by Professors Eugene Volokh and Dale Carpenter in Masterpiece Cakeshop (the gay wedding cake case). Question presented:
Whether a requirement to bake a wedding cake should be viewed as a “speech compulsion” akin to a requirement to write, sing, paint, or photograph.
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Recent Trademark-Related Tweets
Too Hot to Handle:
Application to register
teardrop handle@LodgeCastIron
(used since 1896)https://t.co/ftSSxc4NEz#trademarks pic.twitter.com/jwI3OrR2zG— Ed Timberlake (@TimberlakeLaw) October 16, 2017
Reading the appellate briefs in #BlurredLines case, and see Thicke's lawyers did not file FRCP 50(a) JMOL motion. Could that have been /1
— Lee Gesmer (@gesmer) October 17, 2017
TM use
Text of SDNY Decision in GRINCH Parody Suit
I apologize for being a little tardy in my blogging. From September: SDNY holds that WHO’S HOLIDAY, a play picking up the story of Cindy-Lou Who from “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, as an unhappy adult living in a trailer, is a lawful parody.
Favorite passage:
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Guinness Book of World Records v Scholastic: Is The Cover of a Book ‘Packaging’ or ‘Product’ for Trade Dress Purposes?
This should be interesting. Guinness Book of World Records sues Scholastic alleging trade dress infringement of its covers (See covers above).
Guinness argues that the cover ‘is in essence the “packaging” of GWR’s product . . . thus, GWR is not required to demonstrate the existence of secondary meaning.’ (see pages 5-6). The memo of