SPEJBL and HURVINEK are famous marionettes in Prague. This article from Prague Post Online reports that a dispute regarding the ownership of their names has now been resolved in favor of the creator’s estate. More on SPEJBL here and here. Puppetry links here.
Color Trademark in Australia
A little bit of a puff piece via the Sydney Morning Herald but still a clever demonstration as to how color can designate origin and function as a trademark. Eco-Bananas has been granted a trademark in Australia for its red tips made of wax placed on the end of its bananas. The article indicates that there are
Locker Room Language
We previously reported that the NFL sued former Oakland Raider John Vella who had named his chain of sporting good stores RAIDERS LOCKER ROOM. Yahoo now reports that the case has been settled and the stores will be re-named JOHN VELLA’S LOCKER ROOM. Playboy v. Welles, the relevant caselaw on one’s ability to trade on
Fifth Circuit Cold To ICEE Dilution Claim (that was predictable)
The ICEE mark is owned by an entity itself owned by several of the ICEE product regional distributors, including plaintiff ICEE Distributors and defendant J&J Snack. J&J began selling ICEE frozen tubes in Plaintiff’s territory. Plaintiff received an injunction on both breach of contract and trademark dilution grounds. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the injunction
Dastar v. Fox to be Argued Today
Dastar v.Twentieth Century Fox will be argued before the Supreme Court today. The issues presented are:
1) whether the Lanham Act protects creative works from uncredited copying, even without a likelihood of consumer confusion, and 2) whether a court applying the Lanham Act may award as damages twice the defendant’s profits for purely deterrent purposes.
Miles Promotion As Material Aspect of Marlboros
Extensive trademark complaint filed by Philip Morris against alleged cigarette counterfeitors, via Amlaw.com.
Interesting aside: included in the complaint is an allegation that defendant’s imported “grey good” Marlboros (authorized when sold outside the U.S but imported against the trademark owner’s wishes). In order to overcome “trademark exhaustion” (that the trademark owner cannot exert
Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Sued for Unfair Competition and related State Torts
You can watch the war or you can watch ABC’s “Are You Hot: The Search For America’s Sexiest People.” Here, via Amlaw.com, is Howard Stern’s complaint alleging that he has acquired secondary meaning in a similar concept on his TV show in which people of undeniable beauty judge those less fortunate than they. It
Important Initial Interest Confusion Fair Use Decision – Taxes.com Case
Plaintiff and Defendant are competitors. Defendant published numerous references to Plaintiff (including news of legal troubles and consumer complaints) such that Defendant sometimes appeared as the first hit when Plaintiff’s name was used as a search term. The reference in the search engine was (accurately) labeled as “complaints about plaintiff.” Plaintiff brought false advertising claims
How Are You Spelling CNN?
Thanks to TechLawAdvisor for emailing me about this WSJ Article on the increased use of search engines. It cites a report discussed here earlier regarding the increasing use of both search engines and direct navigation to access websites. However given that the report bundles both bookmarks and URLs under the heading ‘direct navigation,’ this particular
Their Characterization, Not Mine.
Brandchannel article on the value of ‘low-brow’ brands such as WWE, NASCAR and Elvis.
Elvis belt-buckle available here.