The Solicitor General has advised SCOTUS to grant cert in Abitron Austria v Hetronic (brief below). It thinks the 10th Circuit got it wrong under Steele v Bulova. It thinks this is a good vehicle for determining the geographic scope of the Lanham Act.
Petitioner Abitron’s introduction in its petition (HT ScotusBlog):
Petitioners—all
P AND P IMPORTS LLC V. JOHNSON ENTERPRISES, LLC, No. 21-55013 (9th Cir. Aug 24 2022). Link to text of decision below.
Court refers to both litigants’ backyard “4 in a row” games as “CONNECT 4 knock-offs.” Ninth Circuit reverses defendant’s summary judgment. Too much evidence suggesting defendant’s intentional copying. Also: District Court had
Jacobs v. Whole Foods Market Group, Inc., No. 1:2022cv00002 – Document 27 (N.D. Ill. 2022)
Plaintiff sues, based on the disparity between the box size of rice pilaf and the amount of product. The empty space is known as “slack fill.”
Defendant notes that the box clearly identifies the weight and number of servings.
Plaintiff
Brothers and Sisters in Christ v. Zazzle, Inc., No. 21-1917 (8th Cir. 2022)
From Justia:
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, LLC (BASIC) allege that Zazzle, Inc. sold a t-shirt that infringed on BASIC’s federal trademark. The district court granted Zazzle’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The court
RISE for nitro-brewed canned coffee against MTN DEW RISE for energy drink. 2d Circuit held that District Court made a significant error in holding that RISE was inherently string and had acquired strength.
Text of Second Circuit decision in RiseandShine v Pepsi:
BBK Tobacco & Foods LLP, Plaintiff, v. Central Coast Agriculture Incorporated, et al., Defendants, No. CV-19-05216-PHX-MTL (07/19/2022)
Defendant’s motion for summary judgment granted. Def. uses RAW GARDEN for cannabis extracts, plaintiff sells tobacco and rolling paper under the RAW mark.
Comprehensive discussion of admissibility of testimony from various types of experts, including discussion of
MATTEL, INC. v. WWW.FISHER-PRICE.ONLINE, No. 1:2021cv09608 (S.D.N.Y. 2022) (Liman, J.)
Mattel wins default judgment over unknown Chinese cyber-squatter/counterfeiter.
Personal jurisdiction established through attempt at trap-buy.
TRO had been entered against financial institution, permanent asset freeze entered against institutions in active cooperation with defendant’s operation of the website.
Text of decision in Mattel v Fisher-Price.Online: mattel
Russett v. Kellogg Sales Company, No. 7:2021cv08572 – Document 19 (S.D.N.Y. 2022)
Motion to Dismiss all causes, including N.Y. G.B.L. §§ 349 and 350 and related state torts granted:
“The photograph of the fresh half strawberry on the Product’s front label must be viewed in context. No reasonable consumer would see the entire product label
From the decision: Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Complaint. filed by BET Productions IV, LLC, ViacomCBS Inc., Black Entertainment Television LLC. For the foregoing reasons, Defendant s’ motion to dismiss is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Plaintiff has adequately stated a claim for copyright infringement and may thus pursue discovery on this claim.
SDNY: Judge Rakoff applies Rogers test to METABIRKIN NFTs. Plaintiff sufficiently pled that use of BIRKINS mark in relation to digital images of MetaBirkins likely clears “artistic relevance” prong. However, Hermes sufficiently pled that defendant’s use may have been explicitly misleading. For example, defendant had referred to the reputation of the BIRKINS mark and his