Balough
December 15, 2013
Those quilted designs on toilet paper are functional and cannot be trademarked, the Seventh Circuit has found. The appellate court agreed that Georgia-Pacific’s trademark for its “Quilted Diamond Design” was invalid because the quilted design has “numerous utilitarian benefits, such as softness, comfort and absorption,” all functional features. As a result, Kimberly-Clark’s Cottonelle brand cannot be […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
It’s OK to print and sell a copy of an old movie poster on a t-shirt, but only if it is not combined with any other element of the movie, a federal appellate court ruled. The trial court granted Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. and Turner Entertainment Co.’s request to stop two companies from reproducing old […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
Sending a summary of stock recommendations via the Internet is neither copyright infringement nor can the information be protected as “hot news,” a federal appellate court found. Several brokerage firms, which send out or telephone stock recommendations to clients early in the morning, sued Theflyonthewall.com (Fly) for emailing and posting on its website a summary of […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
A beef over an advertising campaign by one of two Chicago hot dog makers can wait until trial to resolve, a federal court has found. Vienna Beef, Ltd. wanted a temporary restraining order issued against its competitor Red Hot Chicago, Inc. to prevent the competitor from advertising that its hot dog recipe is “a family […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
A Sunday New York Times article cited Cheryl Dancey Balough’s recent law review article concerning privacy issues associated with smart electric meters. The Times article published on May 29, 2011, “Promise and Peril in Utilities Smart Grid,” by David Greising, discussed the fact that smart electric meters can collect information concerning a household’s individual activities. […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
A newspaper crime reporter was lawfully terminated for making what the newspaper considered were inappropriate and offensive tweets. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that the Arizona Daily Star was justified in firing the reporter who ignored warnings from his editor and superiors to stop posting what they believed were inappropriate and offensive tweets. Postings on […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
Google does not have to produce information that might identify the author of an email that criticizes a Jamaican resort because the statements were made on the Internet, which is given less credence than other media, a New York appellate court found. Sandals Resorts International, which operates resorts in Jamaica, filed an action in New […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
To maintain a lawsuit in Illinois federal court against an Internet date matching service website, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the website targeted residents in Illinois. As a result, the Seventh Circuit appellate court dismissed a case because plaintiff failed to show that defendant targeted Illinois. be2 LLC and be2 Holding filed a trademark infringement lawsuit […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
The unauthorized disclosure of personal information via the Internet may be an “injury in fact” sufficient to maintain an action in federal court. A federal judge in California refused to dismiss a case where the plaintiff pled that his personally identifiable information (PII)–including his email address, password and logon credentials–were made available to hackers because […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
A short post on a listserv lacks creativity to be copyrighted, and even if it were creative, forwarding the post to others is fair use, a California federal court found. The listserv post was made by an attorney who was seeking information regarding a certified public accounting firm, which he believed had billed excessive hours […]
