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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 12h

oh that snack needs medical attention

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 18h

Oh, I was thinking about the packaging but I suppose it also applies to the product shape.

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 18h

I don't think there's likelihood of confusion, nor do I think Trader Joe's intend it. But they change their items and packaging so often that I think it'll be more cost effective to change their trade dress than to litigate this to the end.

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 18h

I had to refrain from punching my monitor. I can't take this anymore.

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 18h

And that's consistent with the modern trend of supermarket private label brands establishing their own identity. There's fewer "generic" brands designed to look like the cheaper alternative to the "real" ones.

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Reposted by Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law

Meredith Rose @mrose.ink · 21h

lmao even Newsmax was like "nah"

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 21h

Pete Hegseth has set a 5PM deadline for media orgs to agree to unprecedented new restrictions on their coverage.

Dozen of outlets — including conservative ones — have said they'll refuse to sign: WaPo, NYT, Newsmax, The Atlantic, WSJ, NPR, the Washington Examiner, Reuters, POLITICO, and more.

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 18h

On your second question: Trader Joe's doesn't typically trade off other brands' goodwill, not in a trademark law sense. The store is building its own brands and its own consumer loyalty. It obviously capitalizes from popular food trends but it's not selling based on consumer confusion.

Sarah Fackrell @design-law.bsky.social · 19h

Okay, so a lot going on in one short paragraph.

1) Being a "copycat" isn't necessarily the same as being an infringer.

2) Does anyone really think TJ's is trying to "trade off of Smucker’s valuable goodwill" here? Or are they just trying to compete?

In an effort to trade off of Smucker’s valuable goodwill and Smucker’s substantial
investment in the valuable intellectual property associated with Uncrustables sandwiches,
Defendant Trader Joe’s Company has launched an obvious copycat advertised for sale at
https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/crustless-peanut-butter-strawberry-jamsandwiches-
079742 and shown below:

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 20h

Also, no one's found a secret cheat code. Article II Section 4 is the basis of the first two times Congress impeached Trump.
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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 20h

It allows for the impeachment of the President, the Vice President, and any of the president's Officers.

Separate and distinct impeachments. It does NOT mean that if the President is impeached and removed, all his appointments are also removed. That's not a reasonable interpretation.
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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 20h

This section of the Constitution is making the social media rounds again, so it's worth explaining the misunderstanding.
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constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay...

Article II, Section 4:

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 20h

I wanna try this, too. What's taking them so long?

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 1d

There's a Schlok's Bagels and Lox in the financial district now, I assume the bagels are delivered in the morning from Fell Street. I have to try them sometime soon.

Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 1d

Don't know why someone asked that question and turned off replies, but my suggestion might be Fiorello LaGuardia

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 1d

Sure, and stripped of context, Justice Barrett's concern makes sense. And all the Court has to do to alleviate that concern is *not act*.

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 1d

Any lawsuit usually is

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 1d

Teqniq also alleges that in response to its DMCA takedown notices, Elite Vehicles files false counternotifications that it owns the content
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www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Timeless Production Tekniq v Mahil complaint

www.documentcloud.org

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 1d

Owner of Teqniq YouTube account sues Elite Vehicles for copyright infringement. Teqniq, which makes videos on truck and steam vehicles and trains, alleges that Elite Vehicles reposts their videos in full and removes identifying information.
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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 1d

And that's a reason why the Supreme Court shouldn't act in advance of its decisions. Instead, The six are issuing stays of District Court orders, blank checks to the Trump administration to do whatever it wants.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Amy Coney Barrett defends heavy use of the shadow docket: "If we wrote a long opinion, it might give the impression that we have finally resolved the issue, and in none of these cases have we finally resolved the issue."

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 2d

I've seen people ask whether Drake's lawyers were telling him this could be a successful lawsuit, and I dunno? And usually the public will back a recording artist suing UMG, but this one - let's just say it didn't strike a chord.
9/9

a man wearing a black jacket and a white hat with the letter e on it

Alt: Kendrick Lamar doing hopscotch on Not Like Us video

media.tenor.com

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 2d

The court also dismissed the claim under New York's deceptive business practices law GBL 349. Drake alleged UMG engaged in deceptive pay-for-play arrangements to boost streams of Not Like Us and harm Drake's sales. But the court held it wasn't plausibly alleged.
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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 2d

"Hyperbolic Vituperations" sounds like a collab between Kendrick and Aesop Rock
7/9

“Not Like Us” is replete with profanity, trash-talking, threats of violence, and
figurative and hyperbolic language, all of which are indicia of opinion. A reasonable
listener would not equate a song that contains lyrics such as, “Ain’t no law, boy, you
ball boy, fetch Gatorade or somethin’, since 2009 I had this b**** jumpin’,” with
accurate factual reporting. Accordingly, the reasonable listener of “Not Like Us”
would conclude that Lamar is rapping hyperbolic vituperations.

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 2d

Court notes both Drake and Kendrick were taking shots at each other
6/9

Indeed, during this rap battle, Drake and Lamar each used similar hyperbolic
threatening language. See, e.g., Req. J. Not., Ex. K (“But don’t tell no lie about me
and I won’t tell truths ‘bout you”); Ex. M (“Your darkest secrets are comin’ to light”);
Ex. N (“I been in this industry twelve years, I’ma tell y’all one lil’ secret/It’s some
weird s*** goin’ on and some of these artists be here to police it”); Ex. O (“I got your
f***ing lines tapped, I swear that I’m dialed in/ . . . What about the bones we dug up
in that excavation?”). This kind of posturing in a rap diss track does not make such
lines more likely to be understood by the ordinary listener to be anything but pure
opinion.

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 2d

Rapaport sued over a diss track called "Fire Rap" which I suppose where they called him the "perp with the herp"
5/9
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

storage.courtlistener.com

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 2d

Interesting to me: I didn't recall any previous lawsuits alleging defamation over a diss track. The closes I could recall was Lindsay Lohan's lawsuit vs. Pitbull over the "locked up" lyric.

I either didn't know or didn't remember Michael Rapaport's lawsuit vs Barstool Sports.
4/9

In Rapaport v. Barstool Sports, Inc., the district court found that an audience
would not reasonably conclude that statements suggesting that the plaintiff had
herpes and had abused his ex-girlfriend constituted assertions of facts when
published in a six-minute diss track music video. No. 18-CV-8783 (NRB), 2021 WL
1178240, at *15 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 29, 2021), aff’d, No. 22-2080-CV, 2024 WL 88636 (2d
Cir. Jan. 9, 2024). The district court observed that the statements were “delivered
in the midst of a public and very acrimonious dispute between [the parties] that
would have been obvious to even the most casual observer.” Id. The video in
question reviewed the “recent history of the acrimonious dispute that resulted in
Rapaport’s termination just days before the video’s publication,” and also included a
photoshopped photo of the defendant in a derogatory manner. Id. That clear
background “contextualize[d] for the audience that the statements in the video are

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Mark Jaffe, 5 Bridges Law @markjkings.bsky.social · 2d

Court: "The average listener is not under the impression that a diss track is the product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public fact-checked verifiable content."
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The forum here is a music recording, in particular a rap “diss track,” with
accompanying video and album art. Diss tracks are much more akin to forums like
YouTube and X, which “encourag[e] a freewheeling, anything-goes writing style,”
than journalistic reporting. Sandals Resorts, 86 A.D.3d at 43 (quotation marks
omitted). The average listener is not under the impression that a diss track is the
product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public fact-
checked verifiable content.
2. Surrounding Circumstances
Next, the Court considers the “full context of the communication in which the
statement appears,” including the “setting surrounding the communication.”
Steinhilber v. Alphone, 68 N.Y.2d 283, 294 (1986). The fact that the Recording was
made in the midst of a rap battle is essential to assessing its impact on a reasonable
listener. “Even apparent statements of fact may assume the character of
statements of opinion . . . when made in public debate, heated labor dispute, or

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