Click Defense Lawsuit Update

By Eric Goldman

Click Defense v. Google, No. 5:05-cv-02579-RMW (N.D. Cal.).

The Click Defense lawsuit is one of three pending click fraud actions (the other two being the Lane’s Gifts and CLRB Hanson Industries LLC cases). After launching the lawsuit with some fanfare in June, Click Defense got “cold feet” and now claims that it wants to concentrate on its core business. This only reinforces the initial suspicion that the lawsuit was principally a publicity stunt. In Click Defense’s place, AIT has substituted in as lead plaintiff.

Substantively, on September 14 Click Defense “voluntarily” dismissed its negligence and unjust enrichment claims–an unsurprising outcome given the weakness of those claims. Now, the only standalone claim is breach of contract. Meanwhile, according to Reuters, a hearing on class certification is scheduled for May 2006.