Here’s my presentation to the Chicago Bar Association on April 6, 2016 on “Disparaging Trademarks: The Skin-ny on The Slants.” In my talk, I explained how Section 2(a) works when the mark is considered disparaging of an identifiable group, how it was ruled unconstitutional in the recent en banc decision of the Federal Circuit in…
Category: Cases
Trademark Clearinghouse, ReDigi, and More First Sale Doctrine Issues
Here’s a link to my post on the firm’s blog about the new Trademark Clearinghouse that is coming online for use with the new top level domains: http://blog.davismcgrath.com/2013/04/05/using-the-trademark-clearinghouse-for-the-new-gtlds/ I’ve been meaning to write my own post regarding the ReDigi case, but in the meantime here are links to two good ones by Venkat Balasubramani and…
Thoughts on Viacom v. Google
The Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit finally ruled on April 5, 2012 in the appeal of the Viacom v. Google (YouTube) case, Case Numbers 10-3270, 10-3342. The underlying court case from the Southern District of New York, decided June 23, 2010, was discussed during the talk I gave to IICLE. In that case,…
SOPA and other @Cyberlaw Links
The news this week has been dominated by discussions of the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, that had congressional hearings this week. I really liked the following discussions of SOPA: Why I Oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)/E-PARASITES Act Eric Goldman has a great summary of the bill and its problems. Well recommended…
Court awards $214 Million for DMCA Circumvention
The recent decision by the United States District Court for the Southern District of California in the Echostar Satellite LLC v. Viewtech case, Civil Case No. 07cv1273 BEN (WVG), 2011 WL 1522409 (S.D.Cal.), is interesting mainly for the amount of statutory damages awarded. The defendants had been manufacturing receivers that circumvented the copy protection in…
“John Doe” Filesharing Lawsuits
As I wrote in a post on our firm blog back in December, I have been answering lots of questions from those receiving notices from their ISP relating to lawsuits over the filesharing of copyrighted material with the BitTorrent protocol. For those seeking more information, the EFF has a great page of subpoena defense resources…
ACLU challenges Suspicionless Laptop Border Searches
Today, the ACLU and related parties filed a class-action lawsuit challenging the U.S. Government’s policy of allowing suspicionless searches and seizures of laptops and other electronic devices at the border. The allegations include violations of the First and Fourth amendments. It is seeking a declaration that the Department of Homeland Security policies, which are restatements…
Register for IICLE webcast – 8/23/2010 – Viacom v. Google
I’ll be discussing the recent Viacom v. Google decision on Monday, August 23, 2010 on a webcast for IICLE, the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education. To register for the webcast, click here. The webcast will be from 12:00 to 1:00 CST, and is accredited for one hour of CLE in Illinois. Many thanks to…
FTC v. Trudeau – Are Emails Within a Judge’s “Presence”?
The recent 7th Circuit opinion in FTC v. Trudeau, No. 10-1383, slip op. (7th Cir. May 20, 2010), raised an interesting cyberlaw issue as a minor point within the larger issue of criminal contempt of court: Just because the Judge receives an email, does that mean the email, as well as the conduct in inciting…
Awarding of Attorneys Fees for Copyright Cases Not Automatic
In addition to their costs, the prevailing party in a copyright case may also seek recovery of their attorneys fees, provided that the requirements of the Act are otherwise met. See 17 U.S.C. Section 505, which provides as follows: ยง 505. Remedies for infringement: Costs and attorney’s fees In any civil action under this title,…