News & Media
“Bush Lied – They Died” T-Shirts and Free Speech
I wanted to call this post “A Salute to Richard Marmor.” Who is Richard Marmor? Nobody really. I don’t say that in an insulting way… he’s, as far as I can tell, just another one of us regular guys (well, and a TRUE Patriot). How did he hit my radar? He wrote a letter to the editor of the Arizona
Free Speech / Campaign Financing
The whole McCain-Feingold issue tears my little mind apart. Philosophically, I agree with McFeingold. The law has the best intentions — to remove the undue influence that moneyed interests can have on our electoral process. The fact is that concentrations of wealth have a distortive effect on the democratic process. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that we can do much about
Band Name Case: You call yourselves “The Wailers?” Not very Irie, Mon.
Here’s an interesting one… a Washington band, “The Wailers” is suing “The Wailers” (as in “Bob Marley and”) over their use of the band name. Again, why write about it when my friend Michael Atkins does such a great job. Side note, I seem to have great friends in all the right places, because my pal Rob Apgood is one
Intellectual Property in Restaurants
SeePowerful Katinka, Inc. v. McFarland, 07-6036 (S.D.N.Y). I was going to write about this case, but why reinvent the wheel? My friend, Michael Atkins’ Seattle Trademark Lawyer blog already has a perfect analysis of the case, authored by my other friend (and one of my most respected mentors) Bob Cumbow.
Bong Hits for Jesus Case Might Not Be So Bad
Ok, that is a little optimistic. The case does display some disturbing principles and some that make me a little hopeful. The majority seemed to wish to dispense with the whole “conservative” philosophy of judicial restraint. The case could have been decided on much narrower grounds, leaving the Constitution fully intact. In fact, they could likely have had a 9-0
2d Circuit Internet Defamation/Jurisdiction Case
Internet jurisdiction is a mishmash of theories that provide little predictability. However, I have often argued that when it comes to defamation actions, the rule should be that jurisdiction is only proper where the publication took place. Think about it. Lets say that you have a blogger in a civilized state, like Oregon, that protects free speech to an extent
ACLU Files Free Speech Lawsuit on Behalf of Anti-war T-shirt Maker
PHOENIX, AZ – The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona today filed a lawsuit in federal court, charging that a recently-enacted Arizona state law criminalizing the sale of anti-war t-shirts violates the First Amendment. At issue is Senate Bill 1014 which prohibits the use of the name of any solider, alive or deceased, on any item for sale without permission
Is Disney Bringing Back Jim Crow?
Apparently four black teens were ejected from Downtown Disney for… wait for it…. loitering under Disney’s new “anti-gang, no-loitering policy.” Read here. One also “made ‘kind of smart remarks’ to Disney security.” For this, they were detained, photographed and fingerprinted. The penalty for not respecting Walt’s authoritah? Banned for life from Disney property. Seriously, how in the hell can you
BASE Jumping and the Law
If you enjoy this post, click here to let my blawg directory know. Introduction There is likely no more effective way to flush the system with adrenaline than with a BASE jump. BASE, for the uninitiated, is an acronym for building, antenna, span, and environment. In other words, the four elements from which a BASE jump may commence. The first
Merck KGaA v. Paul Rostkowski, WIPO Case No. D2007-0482 (Re-Filed UDRP Action)
A recent UDRP case, Merck KGaA v. Paul Rostkowski, WIPO Case No. D2007-0482 involved a re-filed complaint involving the domain name . The Panel held, inter alia, that the Complaint “is ineligible for consideration” under the UDRP. the fatal difficulty for the Complainant here is that the Respondent’s conduct is, in substance, the same as the conduct on which the
Cliff Heller – Updated
It has been six months since “the incident.” I’ve obviously not taken it very well. Rest in Slack, my Brother. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/OAblYFFx0Cw] [youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=wgn3wCfPBao] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GfsP0jZnRo] This probably seems irrelevant until 3:00 or so. 2:10 it really makes sense.
Pigs, Condoms, and Fox
Trojan has a new ad campaign involving pigs with cellphones in a nightclub. Yeah, sounds like downtown Orlando to me. Anyhow, the ad sounds pretty clever. You can read about it here. CBS and Fox rejected the ad because it promoted condoms as pregnancy barriers. In a written response to Trojan Fox said that it had rejected the spot because,
First Amendment? No thanks, this is Alberto Gonzalez Land
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that two Ohio brothers who mailed adult films to Utah will face up to five years in prison on federal obscenity charges. Story here. The investigation began last year when the FBI’s Adult Obscenity Task Force in Washington, D.C., got a tip about Movies by Mail and agents say they were able to buy obscene
Un Blog Fantastique
J’ai récemment trouvé Le blog de Frédéric Glaize, s’appelle Le petit Musée des Marques (pMdM). Ce blog, en français, discute des questions des marques déposée d’une perspective gallique. Si vous pouvez lire en français, je le recommande fortement.
Motivation
A friend of mine sent me a link to this story: TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of a bill that could lead to the death penalty for persons convicted of working in the production of pornographic movies.
The Fuck Brief
Here it is, the Infamous Fuck Brief. The filings are all public record and are freely available on the USPTO website. Nevertheless, anyone’s convenience, here they are. The USPTO’s initial rejection of the application. The initial appeal to the Examiner – this is the one that sparked the articles. The USPTO’s second refusal. The appeal to the TTAB – Not
Unintended Uses, another Sex Toy Trademark Case
Who knew that the British were so innovative. A few weeks ago, we had the iGasm story where annsummers.com, an online sex shop in the UK was selling a vibrating iPod attachment. Apple’s Imperial trademark lawyers were not amused. Now, Love Honey, another crafty UK manufacturer of sexual accoutrements has developed a vibrator attachment for an Oral B electric toothbrush.
What is wrong with Legal Education?
I wasn’t going to post this, but the recent Auto Admit “scandal” makes me want to. I might have some involvement in the case, so I won’t comment upon it. I’m no expert on the subject of legal education, but Kennon M. Sheldon and Lawrence S. Krieger claim to be, and did some research to back it up. Their study
NYPD v. NYPD Pizza
NYPD Pizza, an Orlando-based pizza chain, has been accused of “intentionally and purposefully” designing its logo to look like the New York Police Department’s shield and decorating its pizzerias to resemble police precincts, along with bills that look like summonses. See Newsday Article.
Keystone Polk County
Cue up the Benny Hill Theme….. Chris Wilson reports on more Law Enforcement hijinks in Polk County. Grady Judd is trying to create a “no First Amendment Zone” in between Orlando and Tampa. (See, e.g., here and here) Perhaps his attention would be better spent cleaning his own house. As reported earlier (another tip from Wilson), the Lake Wales PD