September 2007 Quick Links Part II

By Eric Goldman Contracts * Manasher v. NECC Telecom, No. 06-cv-10749 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 18, 2007). NECC included the following language on its invoices: “NECC’s Agreement ‘Disclosure and Liabilities’ can…

September 2007 Quick Links Part I

By Eric Goldman Marketing * From the NYT: There are 200+ auto repair shops in the “Iron Triangle” area in New York, and apparently they compete fiercely with each other,…

August 2007 Quick Links, Part I

By Eric Goldman Search Engines * Google extended its ad serving technology to consider a user’s past search phrases in addition to their current search term. * Greg Linden: “Google…

American Blinds-Google Lawsuit Settles

By Eric Goldman Google Inc. v. American Blinds & Wallpaper Factory Inc., 5:03-cv-05340-JF (N.D. Cal. settled August 31, 2007) After almost four years of litigation, the American Blinds lawsuit ended…

Search Engine Strategies Copyright and Trademark Panel

…can be invested in buying more marketing. Which is the better investment? – Ex: 800-JR CIGAR v. GoTo.com over GoTo’s sale of TMs as keywords. 800-JR CIGAR litigated this case…

American Airlines Sues Google Over Keyword Ads

…issue for his clients Wells Fargo and 1-800 Contacts. Lawsuits against Google certainly haven’t gotten easier since the 2d Circuit 1-800 Contacts ruling, but maybe Ross has figured out how…

2007 Cyberspace Law Syllabus

…1-800 Contacts v. WhenU case. The 1-800 Contacts case remains a very important keyword law precedent, but as a teaching case it was just so-so. The adware subject matter increased…

Advertiser Liability for “Contributory” Trespass to Chattels Redux–Burgess v. American Express

…2005) * Edelman on “Intermediaries’ Role in the Spyware Mess” (May 2005) * LA Times on Adware Advertisers–Including 1800 Contacts? (May 2005) * Utah Amends Spyware Control Act (March 2005)…

Another Court in 2d Cir. Says Buying Keyword Ads Isn’t TM Use in Commerce–FragranceNet.com v. FragranceX.com

…with the non-2d Circuit courts opining on search engine sales of keywords (GEICO, American Blinds, 800-JR-Cigar). (This court takes a nasty swipe at several of these cases, correctly pointing out…

Utah Legislators Realizing They Screwed Up By Banning Keyword Advertising

By Eric Goldman Linda Fantin at the Salt Lake Tribune reports on the meeting between Utah legislators and various technology companies (Google, eBay, Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo, 1-800 Contacts and Overstock.com)…