September 2016

A U.S. District Court judge tossed out a trademark lawsuit against international fashion house Louis Vuitton claiming that it copied the design of LVL XII, a small, luxury sneaker designer and manufacturer. It all came down to a strip of metal that both companies attach to the front of the sole of their sneakers that are called “toe places.”

The case never even went to a jury. The judge ruled that there was no infringement and dismissed the case. Here are the two sneakers.

Eel River Brewing, a craft beer brewer, claims that is has exclusive rights to “California Blonde.” As far as beer goes, that is. Not anything else related to blondes from California or elsewhere. It appears that a competing craft beer brewer, Duck Foot, is calling its suds "California Blonde.” So Eel River filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Duck Foot.

What was the movie in which the two girls return to their high school reunion and claim they are the inventors of the Post-it® Note? It seems that one Alan Amron filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against 3M, claiming that he is the true inventor of the Post-it note. The case was dismissed because Mr. Amron filed a similar lawsuit that was settled 20 years ago. And, he is not the inventor.

Pinnacle Foods Group – which owns Birdseye frozen foods, Vlasic pickles and a few other brands – has dropped a lawsuit accusing food giant Kraft Heinz of purloining the “Satisfy Your Craving” slogan that Pinnacle uses for its Hungry-Man® frozen meals. Kraft Heinz was using the near identical “Satisfy Your Cravings” slogan to help launch its Devour (good name!) brand of frozen meals.