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Public Figures First Amendment

Genova Burns LLC

Unanimous But Fractured: Supreme Court Upholds Rejection of “Trump Too Small” Trademark, With Little Guidance for the Future

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Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Vidal v. Ester, 602 U.S. ___ (2024) that the federal prohibition on registering trademarks that identify a living individual without their consent does not violate the First...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

SCOTUS Rules on "Trump Too Small"—Third Recent Ruling on First Amendment Implications for Lanham Act 

The June 13, 2024, U.S. Supreme Court decision in Vidal v. Elster made waves in the trademark community. All of the Court’s decisions are significant, and this matter was of particular interest because the decision marked the...more

Polsinelli

Supreme Court Upholds Refusal to Register Trademark Containing the Name of Living Individual – Donald Trump

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In a recent unanimous decision in the case Vidal v. Elster (602 U.S. ___ (2024)), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the refusal to register a federal trademark for the phrase “Trump Too Small” based on the fact that the Lanham...more

Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C.

Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of the Trademark Act’s “Names Clause” in Affirming Refusal to Register TRUMP TOO SMALL

Yesterday, in Vidal v. Elster, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of Section 2(c) of the Trademark Act (15 U.S.C. § 1052(c)), which prohibits registration of a mark that “[c]onsists of or...more

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC

Defamation vs. Free Speech

The concepts of defamation and free speech often collide, raising questions about where the line should be drawn between the right to express oneself and the responsibility to prevent harm to others. While free speech is one...more

Weintraub Tobin

(Podcast) The Briefing: SCOTUS to Determine if USPTO Refusal to Register TRUMP TOO SMALL is Unconstitutional

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The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the case of Vidal v. Elster to determine whether the USPTO’s refusal to register the trademark “Trump Too Small” violates the applicant’s First Amendment rights. Scott Hervey...more

Weintraub Tobin

The Briefing: SCOTUS to Determine if USPTO Refusal to Register TRUMP TOO SMALL is Unconstitutional

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The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the case of Vidal v. Elster to determine whether the USPTO’s refusal to register the trademark “Trump Too Small” violates the applicant’s First Amendment rights. Scott Hervey...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Lanham Act May “Trump” First Amendment (For Once)

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In what appears to be a shift from prior decisions striking down portions of the federal Lanham Act on First Amendment grounds, the U.S. Supreme Court seems likely to rule against a trademark applicant seeking to register a...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Oral Argument at the Supreme Court Suggests Refusing to Register TRUMP TOO SMALL Trademark Did Not Violate the First Amendment

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The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Vidal v. Elster this week, which asks whether refusing to register a trademark that criticizes President Trump violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. It seems the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

SCOTUS To Examine Whether First Amendment “Trumps” Lanham Act

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The U.S. Supreme Court continues to show interest in trademark issues with its recent grant of certiorari in another case pitting the Lanham Act against the First Amendment....more

Epstein Becker & Green

How Big a Deal Is “Trump Too Small”? – SCOTUS Today

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The question of whether a would-be trademark, “TRUMP TOO SMALL,” warrants a First Amendment exception to the Lanham Act’s prohibition on registering a living person’s name as a trademark without that person’s permission has...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP - Left Coast Appeals

This Week at the Ninth: Danish Cults and Defamation

This week, the Ninth Circuit addresses the First Amendment “limited-purpose public figure” doctrine in the context of a charitable organization’s fundraising activities.  The Court holds that charitable organizations...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Rights of Privacy and Publicity TOO SMALL to Overcome First Amendment Freedom of Speech

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During the 2016 presidential primaries, then presidential candidates Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio exchanged insults, with Trump calling Rubio “Little Marco” and Rubio commenting on the size of Trumps hands. Recently,...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Additional Thoughts on “The Right to Hide the Published Truth”

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Private citizens have a right to remove significant falsehoods from the public record. The law of defamation clearly allows for retractions and damage payments if provable lies are published....more

Latham & Watkins LLP

NFTs and the Right of Publicity: Assessing the Legal Risks

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NFT creators should craft strategies to avoid minting or auctioning NFTs that use the likeness of an individual without their consent. As non-fungible tokens (NFTs) increase in popularity, the so-called common law “right of...more

Butler Snow LLP

First Amendment Protects Radio Station’s Criticism of NCAA Referee

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On Thursday, February 27, 2020, the Sixth Circuit affirmed dismissal of an NCAA referee’s lawsuit against a Kentucky radio station for allegedly inciting harassment against him and his roofing business through its coverage of...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

PSALM WEST™: A Brand Is Born

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On May 9, 2019, Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West’s fourth child, Psalm West, was born. On May 18, 2019, Kim Kardashian West’s company, fittingly named Kimsaprincess Inc., filed sixteen trademark applications for PSALM...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

The Second Circuit Eliminates Iqbal Hearings

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The Second Circuit has breathed new life into Sarah Palin’s case against the New York Times by rejecting the use of an unusual “Iqbal” hearing to determine the plausibility of her allegations....more

Troutman Pepper

#MeToo and the Media

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In the past year, allegations of sexual misconduct have regularly made headlines in top news outlets across the United States. The #MeToo movement has encouraged many individuals to make public the details of sometimes...more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Without Doubt, Anonymous Sources Do Not Equate to Actual Malice

On April 25, 2018, the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Venezuela’s “Number Two” politician’s, Diosdado Cabello-Rondon (“Cabello”), libel suit against Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (“Dow Jones”). The...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

11th Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Ex-NFL Coach's Defamation Action

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A federal appeals court has ruled that a former Miami Dolphins coach—accused of bullying a player—did not have a valid defamation claim against a law firm that investigated the team's locker room culture....more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Palin v. The New York Times Co.: Newspaper Wins, Palin Loses

Bottom line: On August 29, 2017, Southern District of New York Judge Jed S. Rakoff dismissed, with prejudice, Sarah Palin’s defamation complaint against the New York Times Company. The dispute arose from an editorial first...more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Palin v. The New York Times Co.: Newspaper Mounts Robust Defense to Defamation Lawsuit

The New York Times is defending itself against a defamation lawsuit brought by former Alaska Governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, as the newspaper asserted in a recent motion to dismiss that the...more

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