Law.com: Playboy filed “a trademark lawsuit against a Chicago-area attorney who once posed nude for the magazine and wrote an advice column before her contract with Playboy was terminated amid allegations of sexual harassment . . . .”
Cnet News: “A federal appeals court overturned a ruling against adware maker WhenU that held it violated the trademarks of vision specialist 1-800-Contacts in the sale and distribution of pop-up advertising. The ruling, delivered Monday by the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals, reversed an earlier decision that confined WhenU from selling pop-ups triggered by 1-800-Contacts’ trademarks, in violation of the Lanham Act, the U.S. trademark act.”
We hold that, as a matter of law, WhenU does not ‘use’ 1-800’s trademarks within the meaning of the Lanham Act when it includes 1-800’s Web site address in an unpublished directory of terms that trigger delivery of WhenU’s (ads) to computer users,” according to the ruling.
National Law Journal: “A group of pranksters called the Yes Men is facing a lawsuit for impersonating the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at a news conference. The Chamber is suing the Yes Men for trademark infringement, unfair competition, false advertising and cyberpiracy, according to the Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire blog. The suit (PDF posted by the Washington Wire) was filed late Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Las Vegas Sun: “The owner of the Subway sandwich empire is suing a Las Vegas restaurant for calling itself ‘Subway Avenue.’ Doctor’s Associates Inc. of Milford, Conn., franchisor of the Subway chain of sandwich shops, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas last week against the Subway Avenue restaurant in the Village Square shopping center at 9440 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 175, and its owner Gevork Boyadzhyan.”
Law.com: “Forget David and Goliath. This fight’s between Matt and Monster. The maker of Monster energy drinks has taken aim at a Vermont brewery that sells a beer called “The Vermonster,” ordering it to stop selling, advertising and promoting the craft brew because it could confuse consumers. The energy drink-maker, Hansen Beverage Co., wants tiny Rock Art Brewery to stop using the name “Vermonster” on the barley brew and to compensate it for its attorneys’ fees.”