Berkman Files Amici Brief In "Gripe Site" Case

The Berkman Center's Clinical Program in Cyberlaw last week filed an amici curiae brief in Bosley Medical Institute v. Kremer, on behalf of a distinguished group of 15 intellectual property law faculty. Bosley involved a non-commercial "gripe site" created by a disgruntled customer that used Bosley’s mark in its domain name. The Berkman brief urges the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to hold that, consistent with First Amendment values, a mark must be used in a commercial context before it can violate the trademark laws and that Kremer’s site was non-commercial. The brief was drafted by Clinical Program students Agnes Li, Eric Priest, Parishi Sanjanwala, and Thiru Vignarajah, the Clinical Program co-directors, and Professor Rebecca Tushnet of Georgetown and NYU.