Nutella: Sweet Spread or Trademark Bully? Time for a confession: I’m not really a fan of Nutella. I can’t tell if it’s too sweet for me or what it is, exactly, but I just can’t summon up the passion for the spread that everyone I know seems to share. (Calm down, Internet, I still like bacon.) Nonetheless, I will rise to the defense of its fans against what appears to be a case of trademark bullying – or, at least, overreach. Time to cross February 5 off your calendars, because World Nutella Day is no more.
Menu
Archives: Business Law
Tiffany Setting – A Generic Term?
April 24, 2013
Tiffany Setting – A Generic Term? Tiffany & Co. has sued Costco over the latter’s alleged use of the term TIFFANY to describe diamond rings. Costco responded by asking the court to rule that the term “Tiffany Setting” is a generic term, and therefore cannot be claimed as a trademark for jewelry by Tiffany or anyone else.
Cracker Barrel Trademark Battle
April 2, 2013
Cracker Barrel Trademark Battle Kraft Foods and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store are in a heated legal battle over the rights to the trademark CRACKER BARREL. This case is interesting not only because of the fame and reach of both companies, but also because the parties have been using variations of the “Cracker Barrel” name since the 1940s (in the case of Kraft Foods’ “Cracker Barrel Cheese”) and the 1960s (in the case of the Cracker Barrel restaurants). While it’s common for identical marks to be used in connection with separate types of goods and services, this case illustrates the…
The Supreme Court’s Landmark First User Copyright Decision
March 27, 2013
The Supreme Court’s Landmark First User Copyright Decision Last week the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark copyright ruling in Kirtsaeng v. Wiley (link goes to a PDF of the full decision). The case concerned the “First Sale” Doctrine, which holds that once a consumer lawfully purchases a copyrighted good, the distribution rights embodied in the copyright are exhausted, and the owner of the product has the right to sell or otherwise dispose of that individual good as he or she pleases. To put it another way, if I buy a copy of Baseball Prospectus 2013 from Amazon, read…
