Property Law Developments—Joseph William Singer

A federal court has ordered cancellation of the R-skins trademark registration on the grounds that it “may disparage a substantial composite of Native Americans and bring them into contempt or disrepute” in violation of §2(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §1052(1), at the time of their registrations. Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse (E.D. Va. 2015).

Massachusetts statutes limit covenants to 30 years unless they provide for renewal for new periods of up to 20 years at a time. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 184, §27. Because the language in the original grant did not provide for the possibility of renewal, the land use restriction in Berger v. 2 Wyndcliff, LLC, 2015 WL 1775527 (Mass. Land Ct. 2015), ceased to exist 30 years after the date of its creation. Although the covenants were amended to allow renewal, the court interpreted  the statute to prevent renewal if it was not provided for in the original document creating the covenant. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 184, §27(b)(1).

The Tenth Circuit is allowing a nuisance claim to proceed against a nuclear power plant, finding it not to be preempted by the Price-Anderson Act, 42 U.S.C. §2014, a federal regulatory statute. Cook v. Rockwell Intl Corp., 2015 WL 3853593 (10th Cir. 2015). Property owners claimed damage from the nuclear weapons manufacturing plant causes by releases of plutonium and other hazardous substances from the plant.