Do bright green ear plugs function better than other colors? 9th Cir holds the existence or nonexistence of alt designs is evidence of whether a color is functional, and should be taken into consideration when evaluating claims of trade dress. cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opin…

Copyright protection for costumes? Relying on Star Athletica, D.N.J.'s PI ruling holds that P has reasonable likelihood of success in copyright infringement claim over banana costume. jurisnote.com/Case/kang919.p…

Australian restaurants in an uproar after restaurant tries enforcing its TACO TUESDAY trademark registration. abc.net.au/news/2018-06-1…

If you're going to claim false advertising, you need to do more than prove false statements - you need to also show that customers’ purchasing decisions were likely influenced by those statements. jurisnote.com/Case/source544…

Hasbro obtained US TM Reg. No. 5467089 for the smell of Play-Doh. USPTO held it proved acquired distinctiveness through, among other items, a large number of media references to the product's smell. washingtonpost.com/news/business/…

9th Cir: For DMCA claim involving removal of copyright information, the removal must be with the knowledge that it would enable infringement - jurisnote.com/Case/steve6089…

SD Cal: (c) applicants need to disclose all "substantial" parts of work that were previously published, even if author is the same. Here, Dr. Seuss' previous works did not comprise substantial portions of the registered works, so no need to disclose. jurisnote.com/Case/seu2779.p…

5th Cir: naming restaurant "Krusty Krab" infringes common law trademark owed by creators of SpongeBob SquarePants show. Court held that show elements can be protected by Lanham Act if they serve as source identifiers. jurisnote.com/Case/viac334.p…

9th Cir: Laches prevented cancellation of TM reg even within five years of reg (cancellation filed 4 years, 11 mo after reg). Incontestability is not a statute of limitations. jurisnote.com/Case/pinke553.…

The new #SFMTA #Muni advertising campaign - Bob Marley might approve, but does Fifty-Six Hope Road Music Limited? (the entity claiming ownership of Marley's publicity rights in California's successor-in-interest tool). #RoP #IP

Showing the importance of protecting your brand and trademarks even in jurisdictions where you don't directly do business! theverge.com/2018/12/10/181…. I bet Supreme wishes it had approved a broader IP protection plan...

More lawsuits filed against Fortnite's use of dance moves. I hope the cases progress far enough along for a decision - would be interesting to see where the line is drawn between an unprotected dance step and a protected choreographed dance work. theverge.com/2018/12/20/181…

TTAB: The sale of goods must be lawful in order to qualify as a bona fide use in commerce under the Lanham Act. ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvu…

A little late to the party, but the 2nd Circuit's decision in Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc appears to shut the door on ReDigi. Court holds service infringes (c) because it makes and stores digital copies during the "resale" process. jurisnote.com/Case/cap623.pdf

If you're going to publish a photo, get permission from the author. This should be obvious, but court held this is the case even where image was obtained from a public Instagram account. And there's no waiver of (c) b/c photo was sent around via text. jurisnote.com/Case/hears4712…

D. N.M. Court: issue of fact whether the use of the Route 66 shield design (and additional material) in connection with sale of craft beer is confusingly similar to a registration for the Route 66 shield design for beer. jurisnote.com/Case/lodes762.…

In other words, SCT did not perceive the 9th Nike ruling as in need of review

Yosemite resolves dispute over ownership of names of hotel and other properties for $12 million - high price to pay for not engaging TM counsel for the original lease! Lesson: if you have names you want to keep, talk to TM counsel first. seattletimes.com/nation-world/y…