My 2005 Prediction of Wikipedia’s Failure By 2010 Was Wrong
By Eric Goldman “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” — attributed to Niels Bohr I’ve written a few notorious posts in my 6 years of blogging, but none more so than my December 2005 prediction that Wikipedia would…
Keyword Advertiser Headed to Trial–Soaring Helmet v. Nanal
By Eric Goldman Soaring Helmet Corp. v. Nanal, Inc., 2011 WL 39058 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 3, 2011) I previously blogged on this case in 2009 when Soaring Helmet sued Google for selling keyword advertising triggered on its trademark. Soaring Helmet…
What State Does the Harm Occur in When Adulterous Lovers Text and Email Each Other Across State Lines? — Knight v. Woodfield
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Knight v. Woodfield, No. 2009-IA-01371-SCT (Mississippi; Jan 6, 2011) Personal jurisdiction questions in cyberspace have been pretty well hashed out over the last ten years, and it’s tough to tell whether recent cases are breaking any…
Search Engines Sued for Accepting Keyword Advertising on “Cheese of the Month Club” Trademark–Pathak v. ICG
By Eric Goldman Pathak v. ICG America, Inc., 5:11-cv-00055-VAP -OP (C.D. Cal. complaint filed Jan. 6, 2011) Pathak’s lawsuit is the latest iteration in the litigation deathmatch royale taking place among retailers with “[Food] of the month club” trademarks. See…
Court Approves TD Ameritrade Data Breach Settlement — In re TD Ameritrade
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re TD Ameritrade Accountholder Litigation, 07-2852 (N.D. Cal.; Dec. 20, 2010) (Order granting preliminary approval of settlement) A class action lawsuit arising out of a TD Ameritrade data breach looks like it’s winding its way…
Iconic TV Commercials
By Eric Goldman I’m teaching Advertising & Marketing Law this semester, and I thought it might be helpful to start the semester by showing some TV ads. Remember that many of my students were born after the golden age of…
Goldman Spring 2011 Speaking/Travel Schedule
By Eric Goldman This lists some of my upcoming public/semi-public talks and other events this semester. As always, if we’re going to be at the same conference or if I’m traveling to your area and you would like to try…
TweetPhoto (now Plixi) To Start Charging For Twitter Celeb’s Pics
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] I posted last week about the AFP/Morel Haiti photo debacle where the court rejected AFP’s arguments that it had a license to photos posted to Twitpic by virtue of the Twitter & Twitpic terms of service….
Contrary LinkedIn Evidence Crushes Witness’ Testimony — Blayde v. Harrah’s Entertainment
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Blayde v. Harrah’s Entertainment, 08-cv-02798 (W.D. Tenn.; Dec. 17, 2010) By my guesstimate, LinkedIn ranks last among the major social networks for being invoked as a source of evidence in court cases. MySpace is the runaway…
Lawyer-Spam Plaintiff Loses in the Sixth Circuit Over Allegedly Misleading DISH Network Emails — Ferron v. Echostar
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Ferron v. Echostar Satellite LLC, 09-4407 (6th Cir.; Dec. 28, 2010) Ferron brought claims against Dish Network and its retail and marketing partners alleging that he had been deceived by the terms of email offers sent…