The Ninth Circuit STILL Thinks Keyword Metatags Matter in 2018–Adidas v. Skechers
Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit ruled about trademarked stripes on tennis shoes. To me, legally weaponizing dots in three lines on a shoe predictably leads to wasteful and possibly anti-consumer litigation. However, instead of critiquing the opinion generally, I’ll isolate just…
Section 230 Doesn’t Provide a Basis To Remove Cases to Federal Court–A.R.K. v. Grindr
The court summarizes this case: Plaintiff alleges that Grindr and the individual defendants engaged in a conspiracy to produce and disseminate sexually explicit photographs and pornography, with Grindr providing the platform for anonymous meetings, communication, and dissemination. Section 230 may…
Another Court Says Competitive Keyword Advertising Doesn’t Cause Confusion
This is a lawsuit between two Alzheimer’s-related non-profit organizations, the Alzheimer’s Association (the more established and better-funded group) and the Alzheimer’s Foundation (the relative upstart). I blogged a prior 2015 ruling. The potential for brand collisions in consumers’ minds seems…
Recapping a Year’s Worth of Section 230 Cases That Got Stuck in My Blogging Queue
[Though most of these rulings are defense-favorable, Congress recently eviscerated Section 230 and isn’t done ruining its greatest online policy masterpiece] Twitter Defeats Defamation Claim As part of a custody dispute, a former spouse allegedly disparaged the other spouse in…
Competitive Keyword Advertising Doesn’t Show Bad Intent–ONEpul v. BagSpot
This case involves dispensers of plastic bags for picking up dogshit. The plaintiff has a registered trademark in the brand “ONEpul.” The defendant describes its bags as “one-pull” (and yet, the term “descriptive fair use” doesn’t appear in the opinion…
Wisconsin Appeals Court Blows Open Big Holes in Section 230–Daniel v. Armslist
Congress eviscerated Section 230 via the Worst of Both World FOSTA, but defendants have been doing well with Section 230 defenses over the past year-plus. Then, last week, a Wisconsin appeals court issued a published opinion that massively screws up…
Google Successfully Amends Adwords Contract to Add Arbitration–AdTrader v. Google
Some advertisers sued Google over promised refunds for alleged click fraud. Google’s 2013 Adwords contract said: Google may add to, delete from or modify these Terms at any time without liability. The modified Terms will be posted at www.google.com/ads/terms. Customer…
More Aftermath from the ‘Worst of Both Worlds FOSTA’
In my prior post on the Worst of Both Worlds FOSTA, I enumerated three problematic developments that occurred before the bill was signed: * the federal government shut down Backpage without relying on FOSTA’s new provisions. * two different civil…
Conference on IP Enforcement at Trade Shows, UNLV, October 4, 2018 (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Marketa Trimble The practice of IP law fascinates IP law enthusiasts, and it can be stimulating for others as well. The practice has even been considered exciting enough for IP lawyers to be portrayed in a sophisticated beer…
2H 2017 & Q1 2018 Quick Links, Part 6: Privacy and More
Privacy * A string of great articles from Kash Hill: – Roomba’s Next Big Step Is Selling Maps of Your Home to the Highest Bidder – The House That Spied on Me – Facebook Figured Out My Family Secrets, And It Won’t Tell…