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"TM-compliant" ads not shown to be nominative fair use

43(B)log

First, nominative fair use permits only the “truthful use of a mark.” Toyota, 610 F.3d 3d at 1177. Defendants contended that one axe “meet[s] WATL Regulations” and that another “meets WATL Regulations with a slight modification that is commonly made.”

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using competitor's images in comparative advertising is fair use even when appearance isn't being compared

43(B)log

The parties had other disputes, including accusing each other of posting false reviews of the other. IDT removed its “Made in USA” advertising in the first 8 months of 2022, and its on-line sales increased during that time period. The ads used the entire images. There’s more, including public disputes on Craigslist.

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State Farm’s Nod to Nostalgia Sparks Copyright Clash With Atari

Copyright Lately

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.”

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copying/explicit references let Roblox proceed with dubious (c) claim; Lego should be watching

43(B)log

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
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Chanel reseller can't get summary judgment on whether it talked too much about Chanel

43(B)log

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.

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WIPIP session 4: ™ & Consumers

43(B)log

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.

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Second Circuit signals some minimal flexibility on Polaroid analysis in another strip club false endorsement case

43(B)log

May 19, 2023) Whereas the timeshare false advertising cases might be making law largely applicable to other timeshare cases, what’s going on in the strip club advertising cases might have somewhat broader implications. The district court concluded that plaintiffs’ false endorsement claims were foreclosed by Electra v.