Georgia Pacific’s Effort to Control Towel Dispenser Refills Fails in 8th Circuit–Georgia Pacific v. Myers Supply (Guest Blog Post)
Georgia Pacific Consumer Products LP v. Myers Supply, Inc., 2010 WL 3564834 (8th Cir. Sept. 15, 2010) By guest blogger Mark Bartholomew After a decision by the Fourth Circuit seemed to open the door for businesses to use contributory trademark…
Reunion.com Back to District Court — Hoang et al v. Reunion.com Inc
[Post by Venkat] Hoang et al v. Reunion.com Inc., Case No. 08-cv-03518-MMC (N.D. Cal.) Reunion.com is a spam case that’s generated some blog fodder, to say the least: “CAN-Spam-a-Friend?–Hoang v. Reunion.com,” “Reunion.com Revisited,” and “Reunion.com Revisited Again: Claims Under CA…
Anti-Scraping Lawsuit Largely Gutted–Cvent v. Eventbrite
By Eric Goldman Cvent, Inc. v. Eventbrite, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96354 (E.D. Va. Sept. 14, 2010). Given the amount of scraping taking place every day all over the web, scraping lawsuits are surprisingly infrequent. In this ruling, a…
Fifth Circuit Blesses Vistaprint’s Rewards Program Sign-Up Process — Bott v. Vistaprint USA Inc.
[Post by Venkat] Bott v. Vistaprint USA Inc., No. 09-20648 (5th Cir.; Aug. 23, 2010). I recently blogged about an online rewards program class action which survived a motion to dismiss. (In re: Easysaver Rewards Litigation: “Internet Rewards Program Class…
Software Vendor Trumps First Sale Doctrine via License–Vernor v. Autodesk
[Post by Venkat, with some comments from Eric below] Vernor v. Autodesk, Inc., Case No. 09-35969 (9th Cir. Sept. 10, 2010) [pdf]. The Ninth Circuit last week issued an opinion in one of the two cases addressing whether a transaction…
Company Not Responsible for Harassive Comments by Coworker on Personal Facebook Page — Amira Jabbar v. Travel Services
[Post by Venkat] Amira Jabbar v. Travel Services (D.P.R.; Sept. 10, 2010) (Order on reconsideration) Plaintiff brought a hostile work environment claim against her employer. Plaintiff alleged, among other things, that the employer failed to properly investigate derogatory comments made…
Yelp Wins 47 USC 230 Dismissal of Dentist’s Lawsuit–Reit v. Yelp
By Eric Goldman Reit v. Yelp!, Inc., 2010 WL 3490167 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Sept. 2, 2010) Dr. Glenn Reit is a Manhattan dentist. His Yelp page and website. As of May 2009, the Yelp page had 11 reviews: 10 favorable…
Google Gets Good Results in Three AdWords Trademark Cases (Jurin, Flowbee, Dazzlesmile)
By Eric Goldman Jurin v. Google, 2010 WL 3521955 (E.D. Cal. Sept. 8, 2010) Jurin is one of the multitudinous trademark owners objecting to Google’s AdWords program. Echoing a prior ruling, the court has rejected Jurin’s claims for false designation…
Veteran Spam Plaintiff Abandons Spam Lawsuit — Asis Internet v. Subscriberbase
[Post by Venkat] Asis Internet Servs. v. Subscriberbase, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93518 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 8, 2010). Asis is a veteran spam plaintiff, whose lawsuits have generated a fair amount of blog fodder. (See, for example, posts here, here,…
Google Settles Buzz User Privacy Litigation
[Post by Venkat] In re Google Buzz User Privacy Litigation, Case No. 5:10-CV-00672-JW (N.D. Cal.) (Sept. 03, 2010). Google recently settled the lawsuits relating to its privacy practices for Buzz. (h/t Wendy Davis) The terms of the settlement, which are…