Person v. Google Dismissed (Again)–This Time With Prejudice
By Eric Goldman Person v. Google, Inc., 2007 WL 1831111 (N.D. Cal. June 25, 2007) You may recall my previous coverage on this case. Person is a lawyer and a former candidate for NY Attorney General. He sued Google for…
Another Court in 2d Cir. Says Buying Keyword Ads Isn’t TM Use in Commerce–FragranceNet.com v. FragranceX.com
By Eric Goldman FragranceNet.com, Inc. v. FragranceX.com, Inc., 2007 WL 1821153 (E.D.N.Y. June 12, 2007) This case shows the deepening split between the Second Circuit and other circuits on keyword triggering as TM use in commerce. This is now the…
Commercial Referential Trademark Uses (Rescuecom v. Google Amicus Brief Outtakes)
By Eric Goldman Earlier this year, I drafted the following as a proposed contribution to the law professors’ amicus brief in Rescuecom v. Google. We ultimately decided to go in a different direction, but I’m posting the outtakes here for…
Google Sued in Domainer Lawsuit–Vulcan Golf v. Google
By Eric Goldman Vulcan Golf, LLC v. Google, Inc., No. 07CV3371 (N.D. Ill. complaint filed June 15, 2007) [WARNING! the complaint is a 4.3MB PDF] Domainer litigation is heating up, and this lawsuit may be the most ambitious anti-domainer lawsuit…
New Cyberlaw Fad–Real Estate Developers v. Griping Homebuyers
By Eric Goldman We appear to be seeing a mini-trend of homebuilders suing griping homebuyers. Overlawyered’s Walter Olson succinctly aggregated some cases, including: * RSA Enterprises v. Bad Business Bureau and Google, a lawsuit doomed to failure (at least in…
Lead Fraud (A Cousin of Click Fraud)–NetQuote v. Byrd
By Eric Goldman NetQuote, Inc. v. Byrd, 2007 WL 1725587 (D. Colo. June 13, 2007) I know advertisers are fed up with click fraud, but let’s be clear–every ad payment method will be gamed. This case nicely illustrates that challenge….
Tur v. YouTube SJ Motions Denied
By Eric Goldman Tur v. YouTube, # cv-06-4436 (C.D. Cal. summary judgment motions denied June 20, 2007). In the lawsuit by photojournalist Tur against YouTube, the judge has denied cross-motions for summary judgment based on 512(c). Tur’s motion (that YouTube…
Dumb Law of the Month–Public Diplomacy Resource Centers Act of 2007
By Eric Goldman I’m announcing the 2007 Dumb Law Derby to proclaim the dumbest law proposed or enacted in 2007. I’m not looking for garden-variety dumb; legislators do that every day. Instead, I’m looking for the head-shaking, jaw-dropping, this-is-what-Thomas-Jefferson-meant-when-he-said-we-should-have-a-rebellion-every-20-years dumb….
The 4th Amendment in your inbox
By Ethan Ackerman While the 4th Amendment gets litigated more often than, say, the 10th Amendment, it is still rare when a court finds federal law unconstitutional for inadequately protecting a 4th Amendment interest in email’s privacy. Earlier this week,…
Roommates.com Update
By Eric Goldman As I’m sure you know, I am not a fan of the recent Ninth Circuit hairball opinion in the Roommates.com case. In discussions since the opinion was issued, most of my lawyers I’ve spoken with have no…