• Owners of Who Dat?, Inc. sue the NFL and the New Orleans Saints for trademark infringement, seeking to protect the mark that "has become one of the most recognizable in all of America and quickly became well-known around the world."
Who Dat?, Inc. v. NFL Properties
• Army bomb disposal expert sues the makers of "The Hurt Locker" for plagiarizing his life story. The film is "nothing more than the exploitation of a real life honorable, courageous, and long serving member of our country’s armed forces, by greedy multi-billion dollar 'entertainment' corporations."
Sarver v. The Hurt Locker
• Former patient sues the Cincinnati hospital where he was sexually assaulted by a transgender nurse. The nurse's "employment while masquerading as a member of the female gender in a hospital environment involved an unreasonable risk of harm to others."
Evans v. University of Cincinnati
• Federal judge enjoins the City of Phoenix from enforcing a noise ordinance against "sound generated in the course of religious expression," finding the right of churches to ring bells outweighs "the City's interest in preserving the peace and tranquility of its neighborhoods."
St. Mark Roman Catholic Parish v. City of Phoenix
• 5th Circuit says a Texas city's junked vehicle ordinance applies to a cactus planter made out of wrecked Oldsmobile 88. "Irrespective of the intentions of its creators ... the car-planter is a utilitarian device, an advertisement, and ultimately a 'junked vehicle.'"
Kleinman v. City of San Marcos
• Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols notifies a federal judge that he has gone on hunger strike, saying he is "prepared to die if necessary because he is done allowing his body to be defiled by [ ] refined and dead foods."
Nichols v. Federal Bureau of Prisons
• Texas judge finds the makers of a film about Rin Tin Tin did not infringe on the trademarks of a breeder of German Shepherds. "Defendants['] title 'Finding Rin Tin Tin: The Adventure Continues" is a fair use of the term 'Rin Tin Tin.'"
Rin Tin Tin, Inc. v. First Look Studios
• Illinois appeals court says the contact sports exception to negligence liability does not apply to the case of an athletic trainer who was struck in the eye by a hockey puck while refilling water bottles. Michael Weisberg "suffered injuries as a result of alleged conduct that was not inherent to the sport of hockey."
Weisberg v. Chicago Steel
 
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Woman Sues Husband for Negligent Ballooning |
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 A New Jersey woman who survived a 50-foot drop from a hot-air balloon isn't just suing the manufacturer of the Cameron Balloon. She's also pointing the finger of blame at the pilot –- her own husband.
Interspousal lawsuits are rare enough outside divorce proceedings. Kathleen Long's claim alleging her husband was “negligent in the maintenance, care, operation or use” of the balloon may be the first interspousal tort involving a hot-air balloon accident.
Long suffered severe back injuries in October 2005 after getting entangled in the vent ropes of a rising balloon that she was helping her husband launch. John Long operates a Hunterdon County, N.J., balloon ride business called Flight Fantastic.
Most of the claims in a complaint filed last month are against Michigan-based Cameron Balloons. By also suing her husband, Kathleen Long may be able to recover damages from the insurer of his business, her attorney explains.
Since she was not an employee of Flight Fantastic, says Salvatore DiFazio of Flemington, N.J., “She fits the definition of a third party ... The fact that they have a marital relationship is of no consequence.”
John Long has described his wife's survival of the accident as a “miracle.” As the balloon with two passengers aboard took off, the vent ropes caught her by the ankle and hoisted her into the air.
Strong winds prevented John Long from returning to the take-off site, so he aimed for trees in the hope that his wife, who was dangling upside down, could grab onto something and untangle herself. After hitting one of the trees, she fell through the roof of a barn, landing on rotting floorboards.
The complaint alleges that Cameron's design of the balloon was defective because it “failed to include a safeguard or other mechanism to prevent someone from becoming entangled in the dangling parachute and vent lines.” Cameron claims to be the best-selling brand of hot-air balloon in the world.
According to DiFazio, the negligence claim against John Long is analogous to traffic accident cases in which one spouse alleges negligent driving by the insured spouse. “In the context of this litigation, [he] is not being sued for his qualities as a husband but for his responsibility as a pilot,” DiFazio says.
In June, a Minnesota couple whose 3-year-old son suffered brain injuries in a car accident won a $100,000 settlement from their auto insurer by having the child sue them for negligent installation of his car seat. Harrison v. Harrison, 733 N.W.2d 451.
By Matthew Heller
11/14/07 
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"Upskirting" Victim Loses Privacy Suit Against Store
A customer at a T.J. Maxx store in upstate New York has lost her lawsuit against the retailer for allowing a man to take photos up her skirt by using her as “human bait” in a sting operation.
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Perfume Allergy Case Settles for $100,000
A Detroit city planner with an allergy to perfume is savoring the sweet smell of legal success after the city agreed to pay her $100,000 and be more sensitive to the chemically sensitive.
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Teen's Suit Puts Mug-Shot Publisher Against the Wall
A new publication in Lincoln, Neb., milks mug shots for humor. But a teenager whose arrest photo appeared in Cuffed doesn't see the funny side of it and has sued the publisher for misappropriating his image.
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BA Settles 'Reckless' Baggage Handling Suit
Limiting its liability to a group of only 13 airline passengers, British Airways (NYSE: BAY) has settled a first-of-its kind lawsuit that accused the airline of being “inexcusably reckless” in its handling of passengers' baggage.
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Judge Says "Gay" Still Defamatory in Texas
What one court has called “a veritable sea change in social attitudes about homosexuality” has evidently not reached Texas where a judge ruled that an airport security guard can sue a radio show host for calling him “gay” on the air.
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Mom Says Hospital Gave Her Wrong
Baby to Nurse
Because of a hospital's error, Jennifer Spiegel became an involuntary wet nurse to another woman's newborn son. Now she is suing the hospital for its malpractice in providing her with the wrong baby to breastfeed.
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Case Over MySpace Page Chills Student Speech
Several recent court rulings have been protective of off-campus student speech -– with the exception of a very shaky decision that a dissenting judge said “vests school officials with dangerously overbroad censorship discretion.”
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