At the end of 2014 and beginning of 2015, the Pompidou Museum organized a retrospective of the work of
Jeff Koons, which attracted thousands of visitors but gave rise to several lawsuits.
We commented on this blog on a decision rendered by the Paris District Court on March 9, 2017 in which the Court found that for one of his Banality sculptures,… More
Are you sick and tired of the Christmas spirit? Apparently, you are not alone. Meet Matthew Lombardo, the author of a comedic play called Who’s Holiday! Billed as “the show Dr. Seuss doesn’t want you to see,” Who’s Holiday! is a one-woman play running Off-Broadway until December 31 featuring Cindy-Lou Who as a down-and-out, hard-drinking, Who-Hash-smoking, 45-year old woman recovering from her disastrous relationship with the Grinch.… More
In our Oscar litigation post a few weeks ago, we made a passing reference to MGM v. Showcase Atlanta Coop. Prods., Inc., 479 F.Supp. 351 (N.D. Ga. 1979). In that case, the Northern District Court of Georgia held that the play Scarlett Fever was not a protected parody of Gone with the Wind,… More
We previously reported on the dispute between the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the conservative activist Ryan Bomberger. Bomberger had repeatedly referred to the NAACP in online articles not by its actual name, but by the name “National Association for the Abortion of Colored People.” Bomberger characterized this alternative moniker as a parodic critique of what he perceived to be the NAACP’s pro-choice politics. … More
It turns out that the folks at Caballero Video were gentlemen after all, at least from Ben & Jerry’s perspective. Last September, the ice cream maker brought a trademark action in the Southern District of New York to put a stop to Caballero’s “Ben & Cherry’s XXX Ice Cream” line of pornographic videos. Caballero consented to preliminary injunctive relief during the pendency of the action. … More
In August of this year, Warner Brothers finally announced the release of Age of the Hobbits, Peter Jackson’s long-awaited follow-up to his Lord of the Rings trilogy, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous fantasy novels. Age of the Hobbits tells the tale of a clever group of diminutive Indonesian tribesmen who convince Chinese actress Bai Ling to save them from a hoard of cannibals mounted on flying Komodo dragons.… More
Readers of this blog might remember our previous coverage of the 2010 trademark dispute between The North Face Apparel Corp. and The South Butt, LLC. The defendants in that case adopted the trademark THE SOUTH BUTT for clothing that resembled the style of clothing sold under the well-known mark THE NORTH FACE. According to the Complaint, South Butt repeatedly attempted to register THE SOUTH BUTT as a trademark and offered to sell its business to The North Face for $1 million.… More
Yesterday the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Penn Intellectual Property Group (PIPG) held its annual symposium, which this year focused on fashion law. David Nimmer, of copyright treatise fame, delivered the keynote, entitled “Copyright and the Fall Line.” However, despite the light-hearted topic and big-name headliner, the event was probably most notable for the apparent absence of a late-invited guest, Michael Pantalony, in-house counsel at Louis Vuitton.
Pantalony set the blogosphere atwitter a few weeks ago by sending a sternly-worded cease and desist letter to the law school’s dean complaining about the artwork on the poster advertising the event,… More
A version of this article, which was co-authored by Anthony E. Rufo, was reprinted in the World Trademark Review.
How can the owners of famous trademarks enforce their rights without being given the dreaded “trademark bully” label? The answer lies in knowing where to draw the line, and in exercising diplomacy in letting people know when the line has been crossed.… More
As reported recently, Facebook has dropped its suit against Lamebook, the subject of our prior blog entry, pursuant to a settlement agreement. This followed Facebook’s unsuccessful attempt to have the case transferred to its home turf in the Northern District of California.
According to the news report, Lamebook got to keep its name as part of the settlement,… More
Lamebook, LLC operates a website, www.lamebook.com, at which people can submit amusing (or merely “lame”) messages and photos appearing on facebook.com – its tag line is “the funniest and lamest of facebook.” (Warning: some of the content is funny or lame mainly because it is off-color.) The editors screen the submissions and remove identifying information before displaying them on the site in various categories (such as “TypOHs”),… More
In a bid to win the hearts and minds of voters, lately political candidates have touted, among other things, their musical predilections. In at least two recent cases, candidates have sanctioned the alteration of the lyrics, but not the tune, of some of their favorite music to shore up political support. The musicians who own the copyrights in those songs weren’t exactly thrilled.
All They Want To Do Is Campaign
In April 2009,… More
As previously reported, North Face sued South Butt for trademark infringement and dilution for using the name THE SOUTH BUTT and an arc designed to evoke the well-known logo for THE NORTH FACE. On the eve of a preliminary injunction hearing, the parties reported that they had settled their claims.
The Court thereafter entered two consent injunctions – one against the South Butt defendants (PDF),… More
In a lawsuit that has grabbed the attention of the trademark community, The North Face Apparel Corp. sued The South Butt, LLC, its founder (college student Jimmy Winkelmann), and a pharmacy that sold allegedly infringing goods for using the mark THE SOUTH BUTT on clothing that resembled the style of clothing sold under the well-known mark THE NORTH FACE. According to the Complaint (PDF), South Butt repeatedly attempted to register THE SOUTH BUTT as a trademark and offered to sell its business to North Face for $1 million.… More