Quityerbitchin: Relative Search Results Placement Doesn’t Support Trademark Injunction–Bitchen Kitchen v. Bitchin’ Kitchen
By Eric Goldman Martha Elizabeth, Inc. v. Scripps Networks Interactive, LLC, 2011 WL 1750711 (W.D. Mich. May 9, 2011) It seems inconceivable to me that people would litigate over the term “Bitchin” almost 30 years after the Valley Girl song…
Facebook Scores Initial Win Against Privacy Plaintiffs Over Data Leakage Claims — In re Facebook Privacy Litigation
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re Facebook Privacy Litigation, 2011 WL 2039995 (N.D. Cal.; May 12, 2011) There are so many recent privacy class actions out there, it’s become tough to keep track of them all. One of the early…
Judge Refuses to Block Seattle’s Yellow Pages Opt-out Law — Dex Media v. Seattle
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Dex Media West, Inc. v. City of Seattle, C10-1857JLR (W.D. Wash.; May 8, 2011) I blogged a ways back about Seattle’s yellow pages opt-out law and a First Amendment challenge brought by yellow pages companies. I…
47 USC 230 and Message Board Cases
By Eric Goldman [I’ve been sitting on this blog post since March, so this post is slightly out of date. For example, I believe the recent Kruska ruling would be a new addition to the list. Putting aside any recent…
Twitpic Modifies Terms and Claims Exclusive Rights to Distribute Photos Uploaded to Twitpic
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] I posted about the dispute between a photographer and Agence France-Presse over images AFP allegedly downloaded via Twitpic and used without permission. AFP argued that the license terms of Twitter or Twitpic authorized its use of…
The FTC’s Proposed Settlement With Google Over Buzz Privacy Breaches
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with additional comments from Eric] [Eric’s note: This topic festered in my blogging queue for far too long, so we are finally posting this after the FTC’s comment window closed. Nevertheless, this is such an interesting…
Two Recent Social Media Defendants Avoid Personal Jurisdiction
By Eric Goldman As I’ve said repeatedly, I try to stay away from blogging Internet personal jurisdiction cases. It’s hard to get excited about any civil procedure topic (no offense to the litigators and Civ Pro profs reading the blog!),…
Court Finds Webloyalty Rewards Program Disclaimers Sufficient to Defeat Misrepresentation Claims — Berry v. Webloyalty
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Berry v. Webloyalty.com, Inc., et al., 10-CV-1358-H (CAB) (S.D. Cal.; Apr. 11, 2011) This is another online membership program case. Plaintiff purchased tickets from movietickets.com using his debit card. He alleges that he was offered a…
Student Loses First Amendment Fight To Call School Officials “Douchebags” After Four Years Of Litigation–Doninger v. Niehoff (Guest Blog Post)
By John E. Ottaviani* *John Ottaviani is a partner in the firm of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, LLP, and is an occasional guest blogger. The opinions expressed are his own, and are not attributable to his Firm, to Eric…
9th Cir: Access of Computer in Violation of Employer’s Use Policy Violates Computer Fraud and Abuse Act — US v. Nosal
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] US v. Nosal, 10-10038 (9th Cir.; Apr. 28, 2011) The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of an indictment under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, holding that an employee’s access of an employer’s protected…