• Maker of Spanx underwear slaps the British firm Sexy Panties and Naughty Knickers with a lawsuit for selling lingerie bearing the acronym SPANK. "Defendants' use of the SPANK mark constitutes trademark infringement."
Spanx, Inc. v. Sexy Panties and Naughty Knickers
• Plaintiff's lawyers say a jury's award of $305 million to Adidas may be a record in a trademark infringement case. The Portland, Ore., jury found Payless ShoeSource infringed on Adidas' trademark three-stripe logo and Superstar trade dress.
Adidas America v Payless ShoeSource
• Children of a New York woman who died at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport after being arrested for disorderly conduct sue Phoenix police for wrongful death. Officers "subjected Carol [Gotbaum] to grossly excessive force" and were "deliberately, recklessly, and callously indifferent to [her] medical needs." Gotbaum v. City of Phoenix
• The publisher of Wikipedia attacks a "Wikilibel" suit filed by a literary agent who was described in a posting as "The Dumbest of the Twenty Worst" literary agents. The post "falls squarely within the protection" of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, it says in a motion to dismiss.
• Environmental groups challenge the Bush administration's decision to eliminate endangered species protections for the northern Rockies gray wolf "despite overwhelming evidence that the population is not biologically recovered and cannot withstand the excessive human-caused excessive mortality promoted under state management."
Defenders of Wildlife v. Hall
• British Airways files a motion to dismiss a class action suit alleging it has recklessly lost passengers' luggage. "[C]ourts ... have repeatedly rejected plaintiffs’ contention that inadequate procedures for handling baggage constitute[ ] recklessness."
Hutchinson v. British Airways
• San Francisco judge gives the Bush administration until May 15 to decide whether the polar bear should be listed as a threatened species because of global warming. "To allow Defendants more time would violate the ... congressional intent that time is of the essence in listing threatened species."
Center for Biological Diversity v. Kempthorne
• New York appeals court upholds the New York City school board's ban on possession of cell phones by students. "[I]t cannot be denied that the use of cell phones for cheating, sexual harassment, prank calls and intimidation threatens order in the schools."
Price v. New York City Bd. of Educ.
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