Court Dumps Crappy Trademark & Keyword Ad Case–ONEPul v. BagSpot
…Posts on Competitive Keyword Advertising * AdWords Buys Using Geographic Terms Support Personal Jurisdiction–Rilley v. MoneyMutual * FTC Sues 1-800 Contacts For Restricting Competitive Keyword Advertising * Competitive Keyword Advertising…
Why I’ve Paused My Blogging at Forbes
…able to do more deep-dive 3k+ word posts (such as this post on the FTC’s suit against 1-800 Contacts) that seemed overwhelming to contemplate while I was actively maintaining my…
FTC Sues 1-800 Contacts For Restricting Competitive Keyword Advertising
…from bidding on “1-800 Contacts” or variants; and 1-800 Contacts reciprocally agreed not to bid on the competitors’ trademarks. 13 agreements also required the competitors to put “1-800 Contacts” on…
Message Board Operator May Be Liable For Moderator’s Content–Enigma v. Bleeping
It’s been a brutal year for Section 230 jurisprudence, and the hits keep coming. In today’s case, the parties ran into a judge who seemed unshakably determined–for reasons I can’t…
Q2 2016 Quick Links, Part 1 (Intellectual Property)
…the low likelihood of confusion resulting from merely employing trademarked phrases in a non-customer facing environment, such behavior does not constitute trademark infringement. See, e.g., 1-800 Contacts, Inc. v. Lens.com,…
Second Circuit Muddies The Trademark Nominative Use Doctrine–ISC2 v. Security University
The nominative use doctrine allows third party references to trademark owners using the trademarks they chose as their preferred descriptors. Without a robust and well-functioning nominative use doctrine, trademark owners…
Backpage Gets Bummer Section 230 Ruling in Washington Supreme Court–J.S. v. Village Voice
Photo credit: enameled house number two hundred and thirty // ShutterStock I have conflicting feelings about the legal efforts to eliminate online prostitution advertising. I’m aware of the critical role…
Keyword Ad Lawsuit Isn’t Covered By California’s Anti-SLAPP Law
The plaintiff, Los Angeles Yellow Cab, and defendants compete in the taxi industry. The defendants bought keyword ads at the search engines, such as the following triggered by the search…
Another Competitive Keyword Advertising Lawsuit Fails–Infogroup v. DatabaseLLC
The plaintiffs run several well-known databases, such as infoUSA and Salesgenie. The defendants are former employees of plaintiffs who split off and launched a competitive rival. The plaintiffs are upset…
Q4 2014 & Q1 2015 Quick Links Part 1 (Privacy/Security)
Photo credit: 3D Quick Link Crossword // ShutterStock Sony * Fusion: The Sony Pictures Hack Included Many Employees’ Detailed Medical Information * WaPo: The cyberattack on Sony Pictures made employees…