On Tuesday, March 31, 2020, Judge John Padova, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, ruled mostly in favor of Epic Games, Inc. in a lawsuit involving the Fortnite dance emote "Phone It In." Judge Padova granted Epic Games, Inc.'s motion to dismiss concerning plaintiff Leo Pellegrino's causes…
Articles Posted in Trademark Law
On Monday, March 16, 2020, New York design firm Uber, Inc. filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, against the ride-sharing company Uber Technologies, Inc., alleging "willful, wanton, and intentional infringement, deceptive trade practices, and unfairly competitive use" of the design firm's trademark. The…
Singer Ariana Grande has filed a $10 million lawsuit against clothing retailer Forever 21 and a related beauty company, claiming that they misappropriated her name, image, and likeness to promote their products following failed endorsement deal talks between Grande and Forever 21. Grande claims that after she declined to enter…
On Monday, June 24, 2019, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in Iancu v. Brunetti, 588 U.S. ___ (2019), holding that the Lanham Act's bar on registration of immoral or scandalous trademarks violates the First Amendment. At issue in the case is the trademark FUCT, pronounced as four…
Sprint, a competitor of AT&T, has filed a lawsuit in federal court to attack the use of 5G Evolution branding by AT&T. It argues that this phrase and the 5GE tag associated with it are misleading because these phones and networks do not use 5G technology. Sprint is asking the…
In the case of Iancu v. Brunetti, the Federal Circuit recently ruled that a section of the Lanham Act was unconstitutional. This federal law governs the registration of trademarks. Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act prohibits the registration of trademarks that are immoral or scandalous. The Federal Circuit reviewed this…
Last week, Chooseco LLC, the publisher of the Choose Your Own Adventure children’s book series, filed a federal lawsuit against Netflix.
Jean-Noel Frydman filed suit against the French Government in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on April 19, 2018. Frydman, an American citizen born in France, sued the French government, Atout France (France's tourism agency), the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves…
Earlier this month, online dating app developer Match Group, Tinder’s parent company, sued fellow dating app company Bumble for utility and design patent infringement, trademark infringement, and trade secret misappropriation. The suit was filed in the Western District of Texas.