43(B)log

MARCH 10, 2023

Plaintiff WATL is allegedly the preeminent governing body and league for the sport of axe throwing and uses the trademark “WATL” to market and publicize the axe throwing league. First, nominative fair use permits only the “truthful use of a mark.” Toyota, 610 F.3d 3d at 1177.

Fair Use 69

Fair Use False Advertising Social Media Advertising 69

43(B)log

APRIL 26, 2023

The parties compete in the market for skid steer attachments and other products. Creager sells Montana post drivers (made in China) that compete with the Texas post drivers sold by IDT (advertised as made in the USA). The parties had other disputes, including accusing each other of posting false reviews of the other.

Fair Use 64

Fair Use Advertising Advertising False Advertising 64

Copyright Lately

MARCH 31, 2024

To make matters worse, State Farm’s resident do-gooder “Jake” lands a Fonzie-style smack on the Crystal Castles machine to get it working—”suggesting falsely and disparagingly to consumers that Atari’s cabinets are low-quality, faulty, and/or unreliable.”

Copyright 78

Copyright Fair Use Social Media Artwork 78

43(B)log

MAY 19, 2023

WowWee’s Vice President of Brand Development & Creative Strategy, Sydney Wiseman, used her WowWee email address to create a Roblox user account and used her Roblox account to promote My Avastars dolls on social media, including videos on her TikTok account.

Copying 94

Copying False Advertising Social Media Advertising 94

43(B)log

MAY 2, 2022

28, 2022) Chanel sued What Goes Around Comes Around (WGACA), alleging trademark infringement, false advertising, false association/endorsement, and related NY GBL claims for deceptive/unfair trade practices and false advertising. Until 2017, it also used the hashtag #WGACACHANEL in its social media posts.

False Advertising 59

False Advertising Advertising Advertising Social Media 59

43(B)log

FEBRUARY 3, 2024

Mary Katherine Amerine, Reasonably Careless Consumers in TM & False Advertising How do courts treat consumers in TM and false advertising cases? False advertising uses v different framework: consider the challenged ad as a whole, including disclaimers and qualifying language. Dougies for diapers.

False Advertising 49

False Advertising Contracts Branding Brands 49

43(B)log

FEBRUARY 24, 2024

Can enshrine things like notice & takedown in © law, but that has effects on the ability to assert fair use. Adjudicators need to hear about risks of overenforcement, overclaiming; defenses—he gets emails from sellers of used or grey market goods snared in a robotic search. It’s like with CPB. Riddled with errors.

Fair Use 45

Fair Use Branding Brands Branding 45