WSJ.com: Did French Retailers Win 'Hometown' Verdict Against eBay"- June 30, 2008 WSJ.com: "Did French Retailers Win 'Hometown' Verdict Against eBay"" A French court today cracked down on counterfeits and an outlet that sells them ordering eBay to pay Louis Vuitton and other luxury brands Kenzo, Guerlain, Dior and Givenchy $63.1 million in damages for auctioning fake goods.http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2008/06/wsjcom_did_fren.html "ICANN Opens Up Pandora's Box Of New TLDs"- June 26, 2008 ICANN cleared the way today for a wider scope of generic top level domain names. The more land there is, the less valuable individual parcels are. ArsTechnica coverage here. SlashDot coverage here. Circle ID coverage here. IP Watch coverage here. Please leave a comment.http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2008/06/icann_opens_up.html Hearts on Fire v Blue Nile re Keywords- June 26, 2008 Hearts on Fire alleges that Blue Nile purchased 'hearts on file' as keyword, and used that term in the text of its ads, but does not offer HEARTS ON FIRE diamonds. complaint HOF keywords - Upload a Document to Scribd Read this document on Scribd: complaint HOF keywordshttp://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2008/06/hearts_on_fire.html "Tyson Faces Second False Advertising Suit Over 'Antibiotic Free' Claims"- June 26, 2008 NewsInferno: "Tyson Faces Second False Advertising Suit Over 'Anitbiotic Free' Claims": Perdues issues stem from Tysons claims that its chickens were raised without antibiotics and, later, raised without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans. In April, a U.S. District Court in Baltimore ruled that Tyson remove the claims from its advertising while the suit was pending and set a May 15 deadline to stop Tyson from running any of the raised without antibiotics advertisements.http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2008/06/tyson_faces_sec.html "Judge Ends Facebook Feud with ConnectU- June 26, 2008 NY Times: "Judge Ends Facebooks's Feud With ConnectU"http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2008/06/judge_ends_face.html In-n-Out Burger v Joe's In-n-Out Burger- June 25, 2008 In-n-Out Burger (doing business in 4 western states) sues Joe's In-n-Out Burger on Holbrook, NY in eastern Long Island. Possible evidence of confusion in comment 1 and not in comment 6 here. complaint innout burger trade dress - Upload a Document to Scribd Read this document on Scribd: complaint innout burger trade dresshttp://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2008/06/innout_burger_v.html White-on-White Writing As Trademark Use in Germany- June 25, 2008 Here's an idea for a law journal note: compare the approach of the German court in the AIDOL case (BGH, 8 Feb 2007 (sic), Case I ZR 7707 - AIDOL), holding that the use of a trademark in white-on-white writing (presumably to game the search engines) is a form of trademark use, with that of, say, the Eastern District of NY in this meta-tag case (emphasizing that meta-tags are not perceived by consumers). Via INTA Bulletin.http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2008/06/whiteonwriting.html Useful Twitter IP Microblogs- June 25, 2008 Prof Michael Scott at Southwestern Law School is making available three microblogs on Twitter: InternetLaw, PrivacyLaw and CopyrightLaw. What is a Twitter microblog It is using a Twitter account solely to provide tweets consisting of URLs of theme-specific tweets. If you don't use an RSS reader such as Bloglines to moitor blogs, you might consider this. BTW, my Twitter account name is mschwimmer (but I use Twitter for chatting, not for IP stuff).http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2008/06/useful_twitter.html "Do We Need a Mode of Voluntary Surrender of Publicity Rights"- June 24, 2008 Pixelization: "Do We Need a Mode of Voluntary Surrender of Publicity Rights": Common-law and statutory rights of publicity in an increasing number of jurisdictions allow people to sue others for the unauthorized commercial use of their image, likeness, and voice. Creative Commons licenses release only copyright entitlements not publicity rights. For a photo of an inanimate object, publicity rights are irrelevant. But a photo of a person may not be available for ripping, mixing, and burning..http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2008/06/do_we_need_a_mo.html Right Of Privacy Of A Naked Cowboy Against M7M Dressed As Naked Cowboy- June 24, 2008 Text of SDNY Decision in right of privacy suit and trademark suit brought by naked cowboy against an M&M dressed as a naked cowboy (photos in decision). Right of privacy claim dismissed as statute doesn't protect trademarked costumes (M&M dressed in 'plaintiff's' costume is not intended to be understood as a likeness of plaintiff); however trademark claim survives motion to dismiss).http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2008/06/right_of_privac.html |