Coventry First Withdraws Twittersquatting Lawsuit Against @Coventryfirst — Coventry First, LLC v. Does

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Coventry First, LLC v. Does, 11-cv-03700-JS (voluntarily dismissed) I previously posted about Coventry First’s lawsuit against the operator of the @coventryfirst Twitter account. (“Trademark Owner Sues Over Alleged Twittersquatting–Coventry First, LLC v. Does.”) I did not…

“Recent and Future Developments in Trademark Law” Talk Slides

By Eric Goldman Last month, I spoke with Mark Lemley and Peter Menell at a Silicon Valley IP Law Association dinner event designed to be a “year-in-review” of IP. I spoke on trademark law. My talk slides. To avoid the…

Mortuary Sciences College Student Disciplined for Threatening Facebook Posts–Tatro v. University of Minnesota

By Eric Goldman Tatro v. University of Minnesota, 2011 WL 2672220 (Minn. App. Ct. July 11, 2011) This sounds like it could have been an episode of Six Feet Under! Tatro is a student in University of Minnesota’s mortuary sciences…

Court Orders Plaintiff to Turn Over Facebook and MySpace Passwords in Discovery Dispute — Zimmerman v. Weis Markets, Inc.

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Zimmerman v. Weis Markets, Inc., CV-09-1535 (Pa. Ct. Common Pleas; May 19, 2011) Courts continue to struggle with the discoverability of social network evidence in civil cases and the logisictal problems posed by these discovery disputes….

Comments on NY Highest Court Ruling on 47 USC 230–Shiamili v. Real Estate Group [Catch up post]

By Eric Goldman Shiamili v. The Real Estate Group of New York, Inc., 2011 WL 2313818 (N.Y. App Ct. June 14, 2011). My blog post on the intermediate appellate ruling. [I was traveling in mid-June and a few interesting rulings…

Virginia Appeals Court Affirms Conviction for Posting Threatening Rap Lyrics on MySpace — Holcomb v. Virginia

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Holcomb v. Virginia, 0546-10-1 (Va. Ct. App. June 7, 2011) Defendant was involved in a romantic relationship with the victim and fathered their child. The Defendant and the victim had a contentious custody dispute. Defendant posted…

Comments on the Second Circuit Hot News Decision–Barclays v. theflyonthewall [Catch up post]

By Eric Goldman Barclays Capital Inc. v. Theflyonthewall.com, Inc., 10-1372-cv (2d Cir. June 20, 2011). My prior blog post on the case. [I was traveling in mid-June and a few interesting rulings fell through the cracks. This is a catch-up…

“App Store” Isn’t Generic, But Apple Can’t Enforce Its Purported Trademark in the Term–Apple v. Amazon

By Eric Goldman Apple, Inc. v. Amazon.com Inc., 2011 WL 2638191 (N.D. Cal. July 6, 2011) Apple’s enforcement campaign over the term “App Store” is ridiculous. Apple is trying to prop up a farcically weak trademark claim–and to what end?…

NJ Appeals Court: No Privacy Violation When Spouse Uses GPS to Track Vehicle — Villanova v. Innovative Investigations, Inc.

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Villanova v. Innovative Investigations, Inc., et al., A-0654-10T2 (N.J. Ct. App. July 7, 2011) A New Jersey appeals court decided that a wife’s use of a GPS device to track her husband’s movements did not violate…

Supreme Court Strikes Down Statute Restricting Sale and Use of “Prescriber” Data on First Amendment Grounds — Sorrell v. IMS

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments by Eric] Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., 10-779 (June 23, 2011) [pdf] The Supreme Court struck down a Vermont statute restricting the dissemination of “prescriber-identifiable” information for marketing purposes. While this case was viewed…