Counterfeit Goods

IP lawyers should familiarize themselves with the full range of CBP’s offerings so they can counsel clients when it comes to counterfeiters.

IP lawyers should familiarize themselves with the full range of CBP’s offerings so they can counsel clients when it comes to counterfeiters.

There is perhaps no bigger story right now in the IP world than the Chinese government’s current efforts to combat counterfeiting.

* Amazon Echo: The first “smart” witness? [Ohio Bar Association]

* Appeals court finds showing a jury clips of Ben Affleck’s “The Town” didn’t unfairly prejudice the trial of bank robbers that allegedly drew inspiration from the movie. But isn’t that cruel and unusual punishment for that poor jury? [The Hollywood Reporter]

* I mean, you know Obama won’t do this, but it is fun to think about a libel case against Trump for his insane Tweeting. [Slate]

* 144,000 pages of documents on Neil Gorsuch were dumped on the Senate Judiciary Committee. [Politico]

* Speaking of SCOTUS, tune in to Twitter next Tuesday to hear a panel of experts — including our own David Lat — discuss the future of the Supreme Court. [Bloomberg BNA]

* More counterfeiter lawsuits. [The Fashion Law]

* Branding in SmallLaw — more important than you think. [Law and More]

* Try, try again. [Huffington Post]

* What happens if a Supreme Court clerk violates the Code of Conduct and leaks information to the press at the behest of a justice? At worst, he’d probably be forced to wash dirty socks from the SCOTUS morning exercise class. [National Law Journal]

* “[T]he great expectations when he was elected have not come to fruition.” Making judicial nominations wasn’t a high political priority, so President Barack Obama will be ending his term with just 125 lower-court appointments in the federal judiciary. [New York Times]

* If there’s anything that Paul Ryan’s good at, it’s soliciting money from lawyers and Biglaw firms. Alston & Bird tops the list of legal campaign contributors, with Patton Boggs in a close second. [Am Law Daily (sub. req.)]

* Apparently the female reproduction system shuts down to prevent conception upon rape. This improbable tidbit from a man who sits on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. [Los Angeles Times]

* But a great way to take some of the heat off of the “legitimate rape” dude is to break news about another Congressman’s nude swim in the Sea of Galilee while in Israel. Excellent work on this distraction. [POLITICO]

* What crisis? Despite a steep decline in applicants, the average law school’s tuition will climb by more than double the rate of inflation this fall. It’s really heartwarming how they put students first. [National Law Journal]

* Customs agents in Los Angeles seized 20,457 pairs of faux Christian Louboutins that would’ve been worth approximately $18M. For this heinous crime of fashion, the offending shoes will undergo a trial by fire. [CNN]

* Karma sure is a Blitsch. Matthew Couloute, the alleged lawyerly Lothario who got slammed by his exes on LiarsCheatersRUs.com, is now being slammed by someone else: his soon-to-be ex-wife. [New York Post]

* Beauty school dropout, no pube hair trimming days for you! Seventeen female plaintiffs have alleged that a cosmetology instructor subjected them to less-than-sanitary lessons in a federal suit. [New York Daily News]

When Louis Vuitton’s legal team isn’t busy trying to peer pressure law school student groups into disposing of their fashion law event flyers, they’re off doing more important things — like winning landmark counterfeiting cases before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

* Here’s something that’s actually worth crying over instead of your “meh” bonuses. Much like this year’s Cravath scale, Biglaw pro bono hours will likely be stagnant or cut altogether. [Fortune] * What’s the point of fleeing if you’re just going to let yourself get extradited? Ex-Crowell & Moring counsel, Douglas Arntsen, will return to […]