Technology & Marketing Law Blog

MARCH 6, 2023

Leonel Lops claims a trademark in the term “Confidence Empire” for shoes. He sued YouTube for allegedly infringing his trademark and sought “$1 billion in damages, $2 million in costs, at least $500 million in punitive damages, and temporary and permanent injunctive relief.” ” Cites to Yout v.

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Erik K Pelton

DECEMBER 20, 2022

The year saw many trademark stories in the news as backlogs continued at the USPTO even while application filing numbers dropped from their all time highs during the two previous years. Here are the biggest trademark stories of 2022 that we have been following at EMP&A. Celebrity trademark messes. Queen of Christmas.

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Technology & Marketing Law Blog

JUNE 8, 2024

In an April 2023 summary judgment ruling , the plaintiff established that it “possesses the legally protectable, incontestable trademarks TEXAS TAMALE and TEXAS TAMALE COMPANY.” The court said that the trademark owner had been using the trademark since 1985 and registered the trademark in 2006. ” Uh oh.

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43(B)log

OCTOBER 29, 2021

27, 2021) Ideavillage sued CCB for trademark infringement and false designation of origin related to Ideavillage’s “Copper Fit” line of copper-infused compression garments. Here, the court granted leave to amend to add a false advertising claim. Copper Compression Brands LLC, 2021 WL 5013799, No. 4604 (KPF) (S.D.N.Y.

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43(B)log

OCTOBER 4, 2021

Defendants' letter allegedly copied text from LStar Trademark infringement: LStar never specified what its trademarks or service marks were. It argued that defendants copied, but didn’t identify a particular word, name, or symbol, or combination thereof, within the highlighted paragraphs, as the alleged trademark(s).

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43(B)log

DECEMBER 12, 2022

6, 2022) The district court reverses the bankruptcy court ruling ( discussed here ) that held that false advertising had interfered with the debtor’s estate in violation of the automatic stay. But why would some advertising constitute exercising control while other advertising didn’t? In re Windstream Holdings, Inc.,

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43(B)log

MARCH 16, 2023

Despite Romag , the court declines to award disgorgement or fees in this false advertising case. A jury found that Harbor Breeze proved all elements of liability for false advertising but awarded $0 in damages and profits. But here, evidence connecting false advertising to defendants’ profits was lacking. (Is

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43(B)log

OCTOBER 11, 2021

Certified alleged Lanham Act false advertising based on allegations that the Clorox defendants and Avicenna engaged in a scheme to falsely advertise the source of chicken collagen used in dietary supplements sold to retail consumers.

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43(B)log

OCTOBER 11, 2022

It also allegedly resumed promoting and advertising the domain name “logan-car-service.com” and re-routing visitors to its own website. The court refused to dismiss copyright claims (plaintiff amended its complaint when it had registered its copyright, which was timely and ok).

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43(B)log

MARCH 3, 2023

TRUSTID lost both patent infringement and Lanham Act false advertising claims. TRUSTID argued that it could get profit disgorgement anyway, but that’s only for trademark infringement, because infringement constitutes “an actual finding of injury.” Next Caller, Inc., 2023 WL 2298748, 2022-1433 (Fed. I’ll only discuss the latter.

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43(B)log

MAY 22, 2023

May 17, 2023) The court grants these timeshare plaintiffs’ motion for a bench trial, ruling that the Seventh Amendment doesn’t guarantee a jury trial in a false advertising case where the plaintiffs seek only equitable remedies. Timeshare Lawyers P.A., 2023 WL 3510374, No. 20-24681-Civ-Scola (S.D. Hard Candy, Ltd.

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JD Supra Law

APRIL 3, 2024

At the National Advising Division (NAD), competitors will sometimes go for the brass ring, the big prize, the whole enchilada, and ask the NAD to recommend that an advertiser’s trademarked slogan or even the brand name be discontinued. By: BakerHostetler

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43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

I won’t say much about that, though I do have a big question, but there are also false advertising aspects of the case. Plaintiffs’ registered trademarks include “SLEEP NUMBER”, “WHAT’S YOUR SLEEP NUMBER”, “SELECT COMFORT”, and “COMFORTAIRE.” Baxter; 996 F.3d 3d 925 (8 th Cir.

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JD Supra Law

MARCH 25, 2024

Every month, Erise’s trademark attorneys review the latest developments at the U.S. By: Erise IP

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43(B)log

OCTOBER 18, 2024

Defendants allegedly copied key components of Trackman’s copyrighted software and falsely suggested, in promotions and advertisements, that defendants were authorized to use the well-known courses in their game. Although the court dismissed a contract claim, copyright and false advertising claims survived.

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43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

It has trademark registrations for the word mark “NEO4J.” The parties previously partnered nonexclusively so that PureThink would sell and support the commercial version of Neo4j; upon termination, PureThink expressly agreed to “cease using any trademarks, service marks and other designations of Plaintiffs.”

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SpicyIP

JANUARY 30, 2024

Is it about the exclusive right to use a trademark – “butter chicken” or the “look and feel” of a restaurant?; or false advertising – the defendant claims to be the ‘inventor of Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani’; or is there an actual ‘invention’ in question – owners of both restaurants call themselves ‘inventors’ of the dish?

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43(B)log

MAY 13, 2024

The Trademark and Unfair Competition Scholarship Roundtable co-hosted by Harvard, NYU, and the University of Pennsylvania will take place this year at Harvard. We invite submissions from academics working on any aspect of trademark, false advertising, marketing, right of publicity, or related areas of the law.

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43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

Unsurprisingly, the trademark claims survive a motion to dismiss, but associated false advertising claims don’t. VFB owns several trademark registrations including “Vampire,” specifically for wine and pre-mixed alcoholic beverages other than beer, and “Vampyre,” specifically for spirits.

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43(B)log

JUNE 17, 2022

7, 2022) The court upheld a contempt finding based on an underlying false advertising claim. The jury “awarded ExeGi $15 million in damages after Alfasigma falsely advertised VSL#3 by referencing studies done on the De Simone Formulation,” and the district court found an intent to cause confusion. De Simone v.

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IP Watchdog

JULY 23, 2024

After filing 13 lawsuits in 2023 claiming trademark infringement, deceptive trade practices, and false advertising related to the pharmaceuticals Ozempic and Wegovy, Novo Nordisk—a 100-year-old pharmaceutical company with its origins in Denmark—is once again making headlines.

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43(B)log

MARCH 21, 2024

The Trademark and Unfair Competition Scholarship Roundtable co-hosted by Harvard, NYU, and the University of Pennsylvania will take place this year at Harvard. We invite submissions from academics working on any aspect of trademark, false advertising, marketing, right of publicity, or related areas of the law.

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IP Watchdog

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

The jury awarded Chanel $4 million in statutory damages on Chanel’s claims of trademark infringement, false association, unfair competition, and false advertising related to What Goes Around Comes Around’s (WGACA) reselling and marketing of Chanel products. The plaintiffs prevailed on all claims.

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43(B)log

APRIL 26, 2023

25 2023) Previous district court opinion allowing Lanham Act false advertising claims to proceed against Microsoft; applying the Article III analysis that doesn’t (yet?) get applied to trademark claims, the court of appeals concludes there’s no standing and thus no jurisdiction over the appeal. note: Like trademark claims do?]

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43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

1, 2021) Entrepreneur, a frequent trademark claimant, sought to amend its complaint and add new parties to the TM claims here. Entrepreneur’s desire to bring forth a claim for false advertising against a competitor in a similar market is not unusual behavior.” Entrepreneur Media, Inc. Roach, 2021 WL 4134836, No.

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Technology & Marketing Law Blog

JANUARY 8, 2024

This is a case involving a trademark owner and a competitive keyword advertiser. The trademark owner memorably (and ridiculously) characterized the rival as engaging in “keyword conquesting,” a term I encourage you never to use. The court already sent that trademark claim to the jury ( my blog post on that ruling ).

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43(B)log

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

SI03 originally sued for false advertising and related claims, and Musclegen counterclaimed similarly. SI03 alleged that Musclegen markets its Genepro protein powder product by falsely claiming it contains 30 grams of protein in a roughly 11.15 Musclegen Research, Inc., 2021 WL 765293, No. 1:16-CV-274 RLW (E.D.

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43(B)log

JANUARY 23, 2023

OSD’s signal-to-noise statement was literally false because it advertised its amplifier as having 115 decibels on numerous websites even though OSD said in other statements under penalty of perjury that the signal-to-noise ratio was 104 decibels, and it didn’t submit test results or objective evidence that it was 115.

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43(B)log

DECEMBER 18, 2023

15, 2023) Simpson sued its competitor MiTek for using Simpson part numbers for structural connectors/fasteners for use in the construction industry in its catalogs/other promotional material; the court here, after a nonjury trial before the magistrate judge, rather comprehensively rejects its false advertising, trademark, and copyright claims. (It

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Technology & Marketing Law Blog

JULY 26, 2022

I’ve often wondered about the conversations that take place between trademark owner and counsel before filing a keyword advertising lawsuit. You can have a court declare your trademarks weak or invalid so they are less valuable than when you started. More Posts About Keyword Advertising. * How did that come about?

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IP Watchdog

MAY 18, 2022

Swiftly thereafter, Nike sued StockX in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), alleging that StockX’s use of Nike’s famous marks in connection with its NFTs constitutes trademark infringement. Nike, Inc. StockX LLC, 1:22-cv-00983-VEC.

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43(B)log

MARCH 22, 2023

Trademark and Unfair Competition Scholarship Roundtable 2023 The Trademark and Unfair Competition Scholarship Roundtable co-hosted by Harvard, NYU, and the University of Pennsylvania will take place in person hosted this year at NYU. The Roundtable will cover the travel and lodging expenses for invited authors.

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Technology & Marketing Law Blog

AUGUST 11, 2022

Chapter 2: What is an Advertisement? Chapter 3: False Advertising Overview. Chapter 9: False Advertising Practice and Remedies. Chapter 21 (online only): Case Study: Regulation of Political Advertising. FTC and the Trademark Modernization Act. Chapter 4: Deception. Chapter 5: Which Facts Matter?

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Technology & Marketing Law Blog

MARCH 13, 2022

LVSA sued Groupon for trademark infringement. Melwani sued Amazon for trademark infringement, dilution, and more. With respect to the trademark claim, the court says the Ninth Circuit’s Multi-Time Machine v. Google. * Competitive Keyword Advertising Still Isn’t Trademark Infringement, Unless….

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43(B)log

JULY 24, 2023

Injury: Damages and disgorgement under the Lanham Act require injury (for false advertising, not trademark infringement, despite the same statutory language covering both; no, I am not going to stop pointing this out any time soon). And economic analysis is a valid means of proving an injury caused by false advertising.

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43(B)log

MARCH 14, 2023

Ah, how I wish courts would apply the same scrutiny to trademark harm stories. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. Route Consultant, Inc., 2023 WL 2466624, No. 3:22-cv-00656 (M.D. 10, 2023) FedEx uses around 4500 independent contractors (ISPs) to pick up and deliver packages.

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43(B)log

JULY 25, 2024

Maybe companies can resurrect noncompetes by prohibiting uses of their trademarks in former employees’ resumes! Maybe companies can resurrect noncompetes by prohibiting uses of their trademarks in former employees’ resumes! This is a joke, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.)

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