The "Stuff-it" lawsuit, more legal input

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 5809

Hi --

Suzanne Burns wrote:

> 1.)  First of all I want to obtain the texts and put together a
> document
> in which I really examine Stouffer's claims-- according to this
> gentleman, she is massively stretching things to claim that there is
> ANY
> similarity at all. Legally how much can I quote from the text without
> running afoul of "fair use"?

I will defer to Heidi (our resident intellectual property lawyer) on
that one.

> 2.)  What do our legal experts here on HP for Grownups think about
> what
> Jon says above about "abandonment"? I was wondering about this earlier
>
> because all the records I found indicated that Stouffer NEVER had a
> trademark at all, and right now only has a trademark pending.

I've always thought she had a rather weak trademark argument since she
didn't file any trademarks until Feb 2000.  The books were "published"
in the 1980s, weren't they?  So, she waited 15 years before deciding to
assert trademark rights?  It just "sounds" fishy.  But, I'm not an IP
lawyer, and Heidi may have an entirely new twist on that one.  The
abandonment claims sound strong to me.

Glad you're on the case Suzanne!

Penny


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