Trademark Law

Legal Dispute Escalates With Craigslist Countersuit Against EBay

Web classified company Craigslist has filed a countersuit against eBay that claims the auction company interfered with its business operations and infringed its trademark after acquiring a minority stake in Craigslist. The suit was filed just two weeks after eBay sued Craigslist executives claiming they improperly sought to dilute eBay’s…

May 14, 2008 1:30 PM CDT

Battle of the Undergarments: Spanx Sues Spank for Trademark Infringement

Spanx, the maker of body shapers, is suing Sexy Panties and Naughty Knickers Ltd. for trademark infringement over its abbreviated name, Spank. The Fulton County Daily Report characterizes the suit as a dispute over an abbreviation between the “makers of abbreviated and abbreviating undergarments for women.” One of the exhibits…

May 8, 2008 3:04 PM CDT

Adidas Award of $305M in Trademark Infringement Case May Be Record

A Portland, Ore., jury has awarded Adidas AG nearly $305 million for violation of its trademark for three-stripe shoes. Lawyers at Kilpatrick Stockton who represented Adidas said the judgment against Payless ShoeSource Inc. may be the largest trademark victory in U.S. history, the American Lawyer reports. The verdict included $137…

May 7, 2008 4:14 PM CDT

Searching Questions

Internet keyword ads are a billion-dollar business, and many may be illegal

May 1, 2008 1:01 PM CDT

Law Firm Strikes Out as Yankees ‘Sponsor’

An athletic shoe company, a tire manufacturer, and even China’s largest dairy are sponsors of the New York Yankees. But a law firm? That’s what nine-attorney Manhattan personal injury firm Belluck & Fox was claiming earlier this week on the website HomeRunLegal.com. The site featured a photo of Yankee Stadium,…

Apr 16, 2008 11:47 AM CDT

T-shirt Maker Wins Wal-Mart Legal Battle

A federal judge has sided with a T-shirt maker in a trademark battle with Wal-Mart. U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr. has ruled that T-shirts and other paraphernalia with anti-Wal-Mart slogans are protected as parodies, according to the Fulton County Daily Report. Charles Smith’s T-shirts carried slogans such as…

Mar 26, 2008 3:38 PM CDT

Polo Ralph Lauren Loses Logo Appeal

Polo Ralph Lauren has lost a federal appeal that sought to keep the United States Polo Association from using logos on apparel that featured two polo players on horseback. The New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week affirmed a jury finding that three out of four…

Mar 10, 2008 5:23 PM CDT

Frigid Fracas

Low-Temp Locales Lay Claim to Worst Winter Weather, Slug It Out in Court Over Teeth-Chattering Title

Mar 1, 2008 8:05 AM CST

M&M Lawsuit Just One Part of Naked Cowboy’s Financial Plan

The singing Naked Cowboy has ambitions beyond winning his trademark lawsuit against the Mars candy company over a billboard featuring an M&M dressed in the same attire—or lack of it—that he sports. The cowboy, Robert Burck, is seeking $6 million, but he already makes a pretty good living, the Washington…

Feb 21, 2008 6:59 PM CST

NYC’s Naked Cowboy Says Candy Corp. Stole His Trademark Skimpy Outfit

Robert Burck has spent years developing his well-known persona as a seemingly naked cowboy playing his guitar in New York City’s Times Square. Now he is suing a major candy company over an advertising campaign featuring an animated M&M dressed in a similar skimpy outfit. The 37-year-old “has his tighty…

Feb 14, 2008 12:31 AM CST

Acronym Soup Suit: AAJ, formerly ATLA, Sues TheATLA

The trial lawyers group once known as ATLA—the Association of Trial Lawyers of America—has sued a new lawyers group that calls itself The American Trial Lawyers Association, or TheATLA. The old ATLA gave up its name last December and rechristened itself the American Association for Justice. The switch was viewed…

Nov 30, 2007 3:35 PM CST

Dell Serves up ‘Domain Tasting’ Suit With Novel Claim

Computer maker Dell Inc. has filed a federal lawsuit that claims several companies violated counterfeiting laws by buying and selling Web addresses with misspellings of its name. The lawsuit contends three companies that register domain names set up a network with Caribbean shell companies to use Web addresses with typos…

Nov 29, 2007 2:04 PM CST

Chinese Company Wins Rare Overseas Trademark Ruling

In an unusual example of Chinese company resorting to litigation to enforce its intellectual property abroad, a Beijing curd maker has won a trademark infringement suit against a German company. The win came Nov. 14 when a Munich court ordered the German supermarket Okai to stop using Wangzhihe’s trademark, reports…

Nov 26, 2007 7:19 PM CST

Louis Vuitton Wins Hummer-Dinger Suit, Ruffed Up by Parody Ruling

Music lost and humor won in two recent rulings in lawsuits filed by Louis Vuitton. The luxury goods maker succeeded in getting a Britney Spears video showing Vuitton-like fabric pulled from the Internet but lost an infringement suit against “Chewy Vuiton” dog toys. Spears’ “Do Somethin’ ” video features a…

Nov 20, 2007 6:17 PM CST

Counterfeit Case Against eBay May Raise Web Policing Requirements

A federal judge in Manhattan has begun to hear a closely watched case between a renowned jeweler and an Internet auctioneer accused of turning a blind eye to the sale of fakes on its Web site. If Tiffany & Co. is successful in its trademark infringement claim against eBay, not…

Nov 14, 2007 9:46 PM CST