Trademark Law
Federal judge fines attorney for AI mistakes in taco biz beef
A Connecticut federal judge has imposed a $3,500 fine on a defense attorney who submitted two motions containing artificial intelligence-generated mistakes in filings related to a taco restaurant’s trademark battle. (Photo by Ross D. Franklin/The Associated Press)
A Connecticut federal judge has imposed a $3,500 fine on a defense attorney who submitted two motions containing artificial intelligence-generated mistakes in filings related to a taco restaurant’s trademark battle.
U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver of the District of Connecticut sanctioned solo practitioner Hilary B. Miller of Greenwich, Connecticut, on Tuesday for briefings that misstated case holdings and contained erroneous citations, according to Law360.
Oliver also referred him to the Federal Grievance Committee for potential disciplinary action and dropped the filings from the docket.
Miller represents Tacobarn entities that are accused of infringing the trademark of Bartaco restaurants, a chain of about 31 Latin-inspired locations. The complaint said a former Bartaco executive opened businesses with a “near-identical name for identical services,” but Tacobarn contended in its dismissal motion that the plaintiff is trying to claim ownership of generic concepts, according to Law360.
Oliver found that although Miller expressed remorse about the AI errors and promised to make changes to his verification process, he still showed “subjective bad faith.”
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