Law Times

Page 20 November 25, 2013 Law Times • u The u Bizarre Briefs CHARBUCKS BEATS STARBUCKS TUFTONBORO, N.H. — If it can't beat it in court, maybe Starbucks Corp. should open a location next to the Charbucks roasting facility now that it has lost its trademark battle against the muchsmaller coffee company. According to Reuters, Starbucks has failed to persuade a federal appeals court to stop a small, family-owned New Hampshire roaster from selling coffee known as Charbucks. Ruling in a case that began in 2001, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Black Bear Micro Roastery and its owner, Wolfe's Borough Coffee Inc., may keep selling Charbucks Blend, Mister Charbucks, and Mr. Charbucks coffee. Circuit Judge Raymond Lohier wrote for a three-judge panel that Seattle-based Starbucks didn't deserve an injunction to stop Charbucks sales, having failed to prove that consumers would be confused through a blurring of its brand. According to Reuters, the New York-based appeals court let stand a December 2011 finding by U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan that Charbucks was "only weakly associated with the minimally similar" Starbucks trademark. A key issue in Starbucks' case had been a phone survey of 600 people by the pollster Warren Mitofsky that found that the top "association of the name 'Charbucks' in the minds of consumers is with the brand 'Starbucks.'" But the court said the survey was "fundamentally flawed" and drew its conclusions from how consumers thought of Charbucks in isolation, not its real-world context. It said that while 39.5 per cent of participants thought of Starbucks or coffee when asked what came to mind upon hearing Charbucks, just 4.4 per cent said "Starbucks" or "coffee house" when asked who might sell a "Charbucks" product. "Grocery store" was the most popular answer to that question. "Viewed in light of Starbucks' fame, the fact that more survey participants did not think of 'Starbucks' upon hearing 'Charbucks' reinforces the district court's finding that the marks are only minimally similar," wrote Lohier. MAN MUST REMOVE WIFE'S GRAVE FROM FRONT YARD STEVENSON, Ala. — You'd think a libertarian approach would prevail in Alabama but not when it comes to private graves on your lawn. According to Reuters, an Alabama man has lost his fight to keep his wife buried in the front yard of the home they shared for decades. The remains of Patsy Davis, who died in 2009, were removed from the unusual grave in Stevenson. The grave was filled in and only the headstone remained after widower Jim Davis complied with a court ruling and agreed to cremate his wife's remains at a local funeral home. "He was disappointed but he felt he had done all he could do to keep her at their home," said Davis' lawyer Timothy Pittman. Davis, a 74-year-old former Marine, had vowed he would never remove his wife's body from the property. He also said the burial place was on his "piece of America" and in keeping with his wife's last wishes. But his legal battle with the Stevenson city council, which objected to the grave, has been an uphill struggle since it began last year. The Alabama Supreme Court had already ruled 5-3 last month in favour of removing the remains from the grave. A recent court order reinforcing that ruling was just a formality. Family cemeteries aren't unusual in rural Alabama, but Parker Edmiston, an attorney for the City of Stevenson, said unlicensed cemeteries violate Alabama law. All burial sites must pass health department inspections and get approval from local governing bodies, he said. In rural Stevenson, drainage or runoff from the Davis grave could have seeped into nearby wells or into the system of a restaurant not far away, Edmiston added. LT "This courthouse is a multi-service dispute resolution centre offering negotiation, conciliation, mediation, and mini-trials in addition to more traditional methods." PRO BONO HELP FOR PHILIPPINES VICTIMS Miller Thomson LLP is promising to offer pro bono immigration legal services to people affected by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. As Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced plans to expedite applications coming from the Philippines in the wake of the typhoon, the law firm said it would Typhoon Haiyan devastation help ensure affected members of the Filipino community can take advantage of the federal government's measures. "Miller Thomson will be providing general immigration legal advice to members of the Filipino community whose lives have been devastated by the impact of the typhoon," the firm said, adding it's "proceeding on a pro bono basis as part of the firm's commitment to provide free legal services in matters of great importance and public interest."  At the same time, Stikeman Elliott LLP announced a pledge to match donations made by its employees. INQUIRY COMMITTEE RESIGNS The Canadian Judicial Council committee conducting the inquiry into the matters related to Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Associate Chief Justice Lori Douglas has resigned after concluding it's no longer "in a position to complete this inquiry." "In the normal course, by now the committee would have concluded its hearings, prepared its report, and forwarded it to the Canadian Judicial Council (Council) for consideration. As matters have transpired, more than two years have now gone by and the hearings have not been completed," the committee said in its reasons last week. "In light of recent events, it has become apparent that this committee as presently constituted will not be in a position to complete its inquiry and submit its report to the council for a very extended period of time. Even further delays and costs are unavoidable. In these circumstances, the committee has determined that it must consider whether the public interest would be better served by resigning to permit a new inquiry committee to be appointed." In a 10-page explanation signed by Alberta Chief Justice Catherine Fraser, Newfoundland and Labrador Chief Justice Derek Green, P.E.I. Supreme Court Chief Justice Jacqueline Matheson, Barry Adams, and Marie-Claude Landry, the committee lamented the various judicial reviews Douglas has pursued and how those proceedings have interrupted their inquiry. "If this process is to work as Parliament intended, it is imperative that there be no ability to interrupt an inquiry with litigation in another court that spawns its own further litigation and takes the process ever further away from the object of the inquiry," they wrote. "This is not in the public interest." SEVERANCE CALCULATOR APP LAUNCHED A Toronto law firm is aiming to give dismissed employees a quick peak at their potential severance entitlement through a new iPhone application it's billing as the first of its kind in Canada. The Severance Calculator, from Toronto law firm Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, aims to help both employers and employees. Companies will be able to get a quick idea of how much they might have to pay a laid-off worker. Employees can use it to find out how much they might get as severance payment after answering a few questions such as age, position, and years worked. The firm says the Severance Calculator is suitable for use across Canada. "There's no service like this," said Lior Samfiru, a co-founding member of Samfiru Tumarkin. Samfiru noted that in his practice, about 80 per cent of the employees he sees come to him with offers of insufficient severance packages. "People end up accepting completely inadequate severance packages," he said, adding the calculator should help clear up some of the misunderstandings about severance entitlements. LT CANADIAN LAW LIST 2013 YOUR INSTANT CONNECTION TO CANADA'S LEGAL NETWORK Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation Inside you will find: MORE THAN A PHONE BOOK Untitled-1 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 13-07-05 10:03 AM Photo: Erik De Castro/Reuters InsIde story By Viola James

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