Posted on July 16th, 2008 by William McGeveran
My full-length article about the practical problems with trademark fair use (and possible reforms) is now available on SSRN. It will appear in the Iowa Law Review at the end of 2008. A shorter “prequel” was published earlier this year.
This is the abstract of the new paper, entitled Rethinking Trademark Fair Use:
The ever-expanding […]
1 Comment »
Filed under: Trademarks, Intermediaries, Scholarship
Posted on July 5th, 2008 by William McGeveran
If you follow trademark law you must bookmark this invaluable web site at the University of Texas at Austin Law Library. It lists every new trademark law article weekly. Fabulous (though I wish it linked to online versions of the articles too).
No Comments »
Filed under: Digital Media, Trademarks, Scholarship, Law School
Posted on July 3rd, 2008 by William McGeveran
What better way to dive back into regular blogging than to discuss the Info/Law implications of a naked blue anthropomorphized M&M in Times Square?
A recent decision by Judge Denny Chin in New York federal court involved two billboards in Times Square advertising M&M candies. The video animation in the billboards depicted M&Ms in various […]
No Comments »
Filed under: Court Decisions, Privacy, Trademarks
Posted on May 6th, 2008 by William McGeveran
The Oregonian reports that Adidas won an astronomical $305 million trademark infringement verdict against discount retailer Payless Shoes this morning. Trademark blogger Marty Schwimmer can’t think of another infringement verdict even close to this size, and neither can I. Most trademark litigators would consider any case worth more than $25 million a very […]
6 Comments »
Filed under: Court Decisions, Trademarks
Posted on April 17th, 2008 by William McGeveran
Most readers probably know about the bitter lawsuit against Mark Zuckerburg, the controversial founder of Facebook, alleging that he stole the idea for the wildly successful social-networking site from other Harvard students who had hired the young geek to write code for a similar site, eventually unveiled as ConnectU. I never knew whom to […]
6 Comments »
Filed under: Social Networking, Internet & Society, Digital Media, Trademarks, Intermediaries
Posted on March 31st, 2008 by William McGeveran
A new decision from a federal district court in Atlanta illustrates perfectly what I have been saying is right and wrong with trademark fair use doctrine.
The case involves Charles Smith, a rather offbeat critic who created two portmanteaus to describe the megalithic retailer Wal-Mart somewhat, um, unfavorably: WAL-OCAUST and WAL-QUEDA. He set up web […]
1 Comment »
Filed under: Court Decisions, Trademarks, Scholarship
Posted on March 15th, 2008 by Derek Bambauer
No, it’s not the eighth installment of the Rowling series - rather, it’s the latest installment of the ongoing legal fistfight over RDR Books and Steven Vander Ark’s attempt to publish a book version of the on-line guide to the Harry Potter wizarding world. (I posted briefly on this earlier, when I was annoyed by […]
6 Comments »
Filed under: Internet & Society, Court Decisions, Trademarks, Copyright, Media, Books
Posted on March 9th, 2008 by William McGeveran
I have been relatively absent from the blog for a few weeks as I worked to complete two pieces of writing that have consumed all my time and brainpower. Both concern trademark “fair use” — the defenses available to those who use trademarks to facilitate their free expression.
The first piece, Four Free Speech Goals […]
4 Comments »
Filed under: Trademarks, Scholarship, Law School, Blogging
Posted on February 25th, 2008 by Tim Armstrong
Continuing our proud tradition here at Info/Law of mercilessly spotlighting journalistic cluenessness in matters of intellectual property (all with the best of intentions! right, guys? …guys?), here’s today’s morsel, from “Inside Higher Ed”: Does Clinton Have a Copyright Problem?. The accusation: Senator Clinton has appeared in front of big campaign banners reading “Solutions for America,” […]
1 Comment »
Filed under: Trademarks, Copyright, Voting, Media
Posted on February 15th, 2008 by William McGeveran
Ars Technica has reported that a chain reaction resulting from the death of Congressman Tom Lantos may mark a significant improvement in the line-up of chairmanships influential on Info/Law issues. (It may seem a bit ghoulish to speculate on the spoils right after the death of a great legislator like Lantos, a towering figure […]
No Comments »
Filed under: RIAA, Network Neutrality, Open Access, Internet & Society, Open Standards, Patents, Copyright, Trademarks, Education & Copyright, Voting