In Engineered Tax Services, Inc. v. Scarpello Consulting, Inc., 2020 WL 2478863 (11th Cir. May 14, 2020), the Eleventh Circuit reversed and remanded the district court’s grant of summary judgment for Scarpello Consulting in a trademark dispute over the distinctiveness of the service mark “Engineered Tax Services,” citing previous rulings on substantive trademark law and its …
Year: 2020
Supreme Court Upholds Eleventh Circuit Copyright Decision on Legislative Materials
Shortly before the U.S. Supreme Court embarked on its six-day experiment hearing oral arguments by telephone, the Court affirmed the Eleventh Circuit’s judgment in Code Revision Commission v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 906 F.3d 1229 (11th Cir. 2018), aff’d sub nom. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 140 S. Ct. 1498 (2020)—a copyright case that we previously covered here and…
Existence of a Golf Course Does Not Prevent Tax Deduction for Conservation Easement
In Champions Retreat Golf Founders, LLC v. Commissioner, 2020 WL 2462534 (11th Cir. May 13, 2020), the Eleventh Circuit was asked to review whether the grant of a conservation easement over a golf course was made “exclusively for conservation purposes”—a requirement to receive a charitable contribution deduction. In an opinion by visiting Judge Robert L….
Would-Be TCPA Plaintiff Cannot Unilaterally Revoke Contractual Consent to be Called
The Eleventh Circuit has joined the Second in holding that consent to be called using an autodialer and/or prerecorded messages, given as part of a contract, cannot be unilaterally withdrawn. Medley v. DISH Network, LLC, 2020 WL 2092594 (11th Cir. May 1, 2020). Linda Medley entered into a 24-month agreement with DISH Network to receive…
Eleventh Circuit Will Not Rehear City’s Fair Housing Act Claim
The Eleventh Circuit has denied a petition to rehear en banc City of Miami Gardens v. Wells Fargo & Co., 931 F.3d 1274 (11th Cir. 2019), which dismissed for lack of standing Fair Housing Act claims brought against Wells Fargo by the City of Miami Gardens. City of Miami Gardens v. Wells Fargo & Co.,…
Court Refuses Stay of COVID-19 Abortion Injunction
COVID-19 is showing its across-the-board implications and triggering quick action from courts. Though the high-profile abortion case of Robinson v. Attorney General, Alabama, 2020 WL 1952370 (11th Cir. Apr. 23, 2020), might not ordinarily be featured in this blog, the case represents the first round of COVID-19 cases to make its way up to the…
Too Late Blues for Guitar Maker’s Copyright Ownership Claims
In Webster v. Dean Guitars, 2020 WL 1887783 (11th Cir. Apr. 16, 2020), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for a guitar manufacturer in a copyright dispute over the lightning storm graphic on “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott’s iconic guitar, known as “The Dean from Hell.” The district court properly determined that…
Undescribed “Beneficial Interest” in Property Insufficient to Confer Article III Standing to Contest Foreclosure
In Thakkar v. Bay Point Capital Partners, LP (In re Bay Circle Properties, LLC), 2020 WL 1696303 (11th Cir. Apr. 8, 2020), the Eleventh Circuit dismissed an appeal because the only appellant remaining after a settlement lacked Article III standing (and in any event failed to meet the “person aggrieved doctrine” standard for appealing a…
Supreme Court Postpones April Arguments
The Supreme Court has postponed its April argument session due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Having previously postponed the arguments scheduled for late March, the Court now has 20 cases that will have to be reset for argument. While not unprecedented, the Court has adjusted its schedule due to a public health crisis only three times…
Eleventh Circuit Resets Title VII Retaliation Claim Standard
Undaunted by COVID-19, the Eleventh Circuit pressed forward with its work in Monaghan v. Worldpay US, Inc., 2020 WL 1608155 (11th Cir. Apr. 2, 2020), which reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for an employer, sending the plaintiff-employee’s Title VII race retaliation claim to a jury. The district court had both applied the…