Posts Tagged: "trademark"

Pink Letter Law: How Barbie Has Helped to Shape IP Law in the Courts

Last Saturday, my friends and I practically bounced our way to the movie theatre, joining throngs of pink-clad youngsters to watch the year’s biggest global blockbuster: ‘Barbie.’ Well, Barbie has done it all, honestly. She has not only achieved unparalleled success as a toy, with over a billion units sold worldwide, but now as a movie, amassing an impressive $365 million global opening. She has defied traditional stereotypes by promoting career-focus and self-sufficiency, challenged the motherhood-aspiration notion for young women, and inspired Greta Gerwig’s modern take on the iconic character. However, we often overlook the doll’s profound contributions to the evolution of intellectual property (IP) jurisprudence, from its genesis to its movie adaptation.

Apple Tells TTAB it Should be Allowed to Amend APPLE MUSIC Application

On August 1, Apple filed a motion to amend its trademark application for the mark APPLE MUSIC with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) following its recent loss at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). Apple is asking the TTAB to allow it to remove “live performance services, as well as related services,” from the application in order to get around the CAFC’s ruling and since the Opposer, Charles Bertini, did not make the argument on which the ruling was based before the TTAB.

Gilead Wins Injunction in Counterfeit HIV Meds Case as Coons Recognizes August as National Anticounterfeiting Month

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, in a decision published Monday, denied the defendants’ motions to vacate asset freezes in a case brought by Gilead alleging a massive HIV drug counterfeiting ring that involves “hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth” of fake medications. In January 2022, the court unsealed documents in the suit against a slew of defendants who Gilead said sold, marketed, and distributed counterfeits of its HIV medications. Gilead’s complaint sought immediate monetary and injunctive relief, including seizure at certain of the defendants’ premises, as well as relief for trademark and trade dress infringement and trademark dilution, among other alleged violations.

J&J Subsidiary Wins $18 Million Judgment Against Surgical Tool Counterfeiter

On Friday, July 21, an Illinois district court ruled that a Pakistani employee of a medical device distribution company infringed on Ethicon’s trademark when he bought, marketed and sold counterfeit Ethicon devices. Ethicon is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson and won an $18 million default judgment. Ethicon first filed a complaint against the defendant Mudassar Shah in July 2020 and alleged federal and state trademark infringement of five different trademarks. The laundry list of accusations also included trademark dilution, false advertising, common law unjust enrichment, common law tortious interference with contract, and breach of settlement agreement.

Chew on This: What the Bad Spaniels Trademark Decision Means for Free Expression and the Metaverse

In Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, a unanimous Supreme Court sided with Jack Daniel’s and sent dog toy maker VIP Products scurrying away with its tail between its legs. The decision held that VIP’s commercial use of a dog toy, designed to look like a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, complete with droll variations on Jack Daniel’s trademarks, is not entitled to First Amendment protections for artistic expression under the “Rogers test.” Rogers v. Grimaldi, 875 F. 2d 994, 999 (2d Cir. 1989). Instead, it is subject to the Lanham Act’s likelihood-of-confusion test to determine if consumers would be likely to confuse VIP’s dog toy with Jack Daniel’s, no matter how parodic. While the justices felt that artistic expression versus trademark use was cut and dried in this instance, that is not always the case in litigation focused on NFTs and the Metaverse.