Course Policies and Reading Assignments

ITC v. Punchgini (2d Cir. 2008)

The Freecycle Network, Inc. v. Oey, 505 F.3d 898 (9th Cir. 2007)

Louis Vuitton Malletier v. Haute Diggity Dog, 507 F.3d 252 (4th Cir. 2007)

Time Warner Cable, Inc. v. DirecTV, Inc., 497 F.3d 144 (2d Cir. 2007)

Guest Speaker - Rudy Telscher

C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing Inc. v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media LP, 505 F.3d 818 (8th Cir. 2007)

MLB's Supreme Court Certiorari petition

Briefs and Orders in the CBC Case (optional readings):

District Court Opinion

Appellant MLBPA brief

Appellee's Brief

Appellant MLBPA Reply Brief

MLBPA's Petition for Rehearing

Some Things to Think About . . .

Can one line from a movie be distinctive?  Of what?  For what?   See Law Blog Trademark Infringement Suit of the Day, Wall St. J. LawBlog, Aug. 22, 2007.

Generic terms for soft drinks?

Can The Coca-Cola Company control the red color used on soft drink cans? See Loretta Chao and Betsy McKay, Pepsi Steps Into Coke Realm: Red, China, Wall St. Journal, Sept. 12, 2007 at B4.

Does trademark law accommodate “dynamic branding”? Should it be different with packaging trade dress? See Louise Story, Product Packages Now Shout to Get your Attention, New York Times, August 10, 2007.

Stephanie Saul, Johnson & Johnson Sues Red Cross over Symbol, New York Times, August 9, 2007(To help sort through the issues, here is a helpful timeline from professor Froomkin). Who has the trademark rights and what are they (precisely)?

Can Roger Ebert really assert rights in "TWO THUMBS UP" for use in connection with movie reviews?  See Phil Rosenthal, Disney Thumb-Wrestles Ebert, Chicago Tribune, Aug. 25, 2007.  Who should own the trademark rights, if any, in that phrase?  If, because of his illness, Roger Ebert is absent from television and movie reviews for a couple of years, should the trademark status of the phrase be affected?  And, if rights do exist, what third party uses can be restrained?

The Perils of Territoriality: Pepsi and Blue Storm in China. See Shu-Ching Jean Chen, The Mosquito Versus Pepsi, Forbes June 10, 2007.

Is this T-shirt making a "trademark use" of MY SPACE?  What about John Deere? To see more examples please click here

Trademarks and Second Life See Rubina Reuters, Protecting Real Brand Names in a Virtual World, Reuters, May 11, 2007.

Personal Safes That Imitate Soda Cans? Beer Can Covers That Imitate Soda Cans? See Professor Tushnet’s take (here also; see also from the Seattle Trademark Lawyer here).

Does Starbucks have a claims here? See Starbucks to Sue Small Michigan Coffee Shop For Trademark Infringement.

Mattel is not happy about the use of BARBIE by a porn star ("China Barbie").  What claims might they bring? See Mattel targets porn site using 'Barbie', Chicago Tribune, Aug. 22, 2007.

What about the "Official Vick's Dog Chew Toy"?  Is this an infringement of anyone's trademark rights?  Other rights?  Should it matter that the profits from sale of the toy go to animal shelters?

Is shaming through application of a trademark tarnishment? See Thai Cops Punished by Hello Kitty (BBC, August 6, 2007).

Is this tarnishment? See Apple v Ann Summers in IGasm Spat , MacWorld, May 23, 2007.

Take a look at . . . http://www.gizoogle.com/

Adbuster Spoof Ads: Are these parodies?

Is the website cafepress.com liable for facilitating infringement by its customers who create logos and apply them to products via the website. http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/sell/ The website has an IP policy: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/help/iprights.aspx

Is this covered by first sale?

Electronic Supplement to Dinwoodie & Janis, Trademarks and Unfair Competition: Law & Policy (2d Ed 2007)