Here’s a trademark dispute involving book titles. Plaintiff writes a series of industry-focused legal education books called “The Law, in Plain English for [insert industry]” (some examples are Photographers, Restaurants, Writers). Essentially, the books are an attempt to help regular folks understand the law that applies to their industry, explained not with legal jargon but “in plain English.”

Defendants publish a book “Legal Writing in Plain English,” frequently used by law students as a textbook in their legal writing courses. It teaches future lawyers (and current lawyers) to write laws and contracts that regular folks can understand, not written in legal jargon but “in plain English.”

Are the books sold in the same marketplace or two independent marketplaces? Industry folks buy one set of books, attorneys buy the other, presumably all for the greater good of comprehensible law. Authors suing authors, lawyers suing lawyers…this could get interesting. Stay tuned for updates.

Leonard D. Duboff v. University of Chicago et al

Court Case Number: 3:13-cv-00436-SI
File Date: Thursday, March 14, 2013
Plaintiff: Leonard D. Duboff
Plaintiff Counsel: Anthony Edward McNamer, Deborah E. Gumm of McNamer and Company, PC
Defendant: University of Chicago, Lawprose, Inc., Bryan A. Garner
Cause: Trademark Infringement
Court: Oregon District Court
Judge: Judge Michael H. Simon