dastar

Architect can falsely claim to have designed buildings, court rules

Rebecca Tushnet
March 01, 2012 02:10

M. Arthur Gensler, Jr. & Associates, Inc. v. Strabala, 2012 WL 600679 (N.D. Ill.) Gensler sued Strabala for trademark infringement and false advertising under state and federal law.  The court granted Strabala’s motion to dismiss.  Gensler employed Strabala as a Design Director...

Defendant hits the trifecta, loses copyright, Lanham Act, and design patent claims

Rebecca Tushnet
October 11, 2011 19:39

Victor Stanley, Inc. v. Creative Pipe, Inc., 2011 WL 4596043 (D. Md.)Extremely bad behavior drove the court’s (unnecessary) misinterpretation of Dastar.Plaintiff VSI makes site furnishings such as benches, planters, bike racks, etc. It produces them in America and invests heavily in technology. ...

Dastar only covers ideas, court mistakenly suggests

Rebecca Tushnet
September 20, 2011 17:20

General Scientific Corp. v. SheerVision, Inc., 2011 WL 3880489 (E.D. Mich.)GS sued SheerVision for violation of the Lanham Act, copyright infringement, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, common law unfair competition, patent infringement, and breach of contract (not addressed here).The...

Perfect 10 survives motion to dismiss against Megaupload

Rebecca Tushnet
August 04, 2011 19:47

Perfect 10, Inc. v. Megaupload Ltd., 2011 WL 3203117 (S.D. Cal.)It’s not too surprising that Megaupload lost the bulk of its motion to dismiss this copyright complaint, given that the court has to accept all the well-pleaded allegations as true. A few points of interest: First, the list of actions...

False advertising claim for false development/exclusivity survives

Rebecca Tushnet
July 26, 2011 12:46

Trident Prods. & Servs., LLC v. Canadian Soiless Wholesale, Ltd, 2011 WL 2938483 (E.D. Va.) Trident sued for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, violation of Virginia’s trade secrets act, and false advertising under the Lanham Act. The court denied a motion to dismiss the false...