In today’s news and commentary, the Ninth Circuit revives Trader Joe’s trademark suit against an employee union, House lawmakers introduce a bill to make striking workers eligible for unemployment benefits, and a former New Jersey Institute of Technology lecturer who praised Hitler gets another chance to bring First Amendment claims against the school.
On Monday, the Ninth Circuit held that Trader Joe’s lawsuit against the fledgling Trader Joe’s Union (TJU) for alleged trademark infringement may proceed, reversing a district court’s dismissal of the suit. Trader Joe’s filed suit in 2023, alleging that apparel, home goods, and reusable tote bags sold on the union’s website used the company’s distinctive typeface, color, and design in violation of federal trademark law. In January 2024, U.S. District Judge Hernán Vera dismissed the case, finding no plausible likelihood of consumer confusion and characterizing the suit as an effort to “weaponize the legal system to gain an advantage in an ongoing labor dispute.” The Ninth Circuit, however, disagreed, concluding that the union’s sale of totes, mugs, and T-shirts was sufficiently likely to cause confusion, citing the “striking[] resemblance” between the TJU and Trader Joe’s logos and the use of the “same red color and similar stylized fonts.”
Meanwhile, House Democrats introduced a bill to make striking workers eligible for unemployment benefits, modeled on New Jersey and New York policies that provide benefits after a 14-day...
Claims that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman first emerged online in 2021 and have since gone viral. “Two billion people have been exposed to this story in French and 2.5 billion in English,...