Java APIs Aren’t Copyrightable–Oracle v. Google (Guest Blog Post)
By Tyler Ochoa (see some of Tyler’s other posts) with comments from Eric Oracle America, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 3:10-cv-03561-WHA (N.D. Cal. May 31, 2012). On Thursday, Judge William Alsup concluded the district court phase of the Oracle v. Google…
PissedConsumer Denied Section 230 Immunity and Can’t Shake Extortion Claim—Vo v. Opinion Corp.
By Eric Goldman Vo Group v. Opinion Corp., 8758/11 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. May 22, 2012) PissedConsumer is a consumer review site occupying the same market niche as Ripoff Report. It only wants negative consumer reviews of businesses (as signaled by…
Google Wins Trade Secret Lawsuit Over Ill-Fated Coffee Meeting–Booloon v. Google
By Eric Goldman Booloon, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 2012 WL 1898937 (Cal. App. Ct. May 25, 2012) Qin Zhang is a technology entrepreneur and an attorney (meaning she’s joined the illustrious–and burgeoning–club of lawyers-as-plaintiffs who have sued Google). Zhang claims…
What Are Appropriate Compensatory Damages for 3 Fake Competitor Reviews? The Surprising Answer–Fireworks Restoration v. Hosto
By Eric Goldman The Fireworks Restoration Company v. Hosto, ED97181 (Mo. App. Ct. May 9, 2012) Hosto and Mitchell formed two companies together. Eventually, the relationship soured, and they acrimoniously split their empire. Still grousy, Hosto (pretending to be former…
Doctors’ Online Reputation Management and Patient Reviews (Talk Notes from ASAPS Annual Meeting)
By Eric Goldman I recently spoke at the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) in Vancouver, BC. This is not a normal conference venue for me! (And given the number of fashion-conscious people at the…
Trademark Trolling by SEO Consultant Provides Cautionary Anti-SOPA Tale (and Other Lessons)–Premier Pool Management v. Lusk
By Eric Goldman Premier Pool Management Corp. v. Lusk, 2012 WL 1593206 (E.D. Cal. May 4, 2012) Have I mentioned recently how much I hate SOPA? Today’s case is a textbook example of why SOPA–and the things it stood for–were…
Groupon Defeats Trademark Challenge–Groupion v. Groupon
By Eric Goldman Groupion, LLC v. Groupon, Inc., 2012 WL 1655728 (N.D. Cal. May 8, 2012). Groupion makes CRM software. Groupon is the leading online daily deals provider. A year ago, Groupion sued Groupon for trademark infringement. Last Fall, the…
Granick on CISPA’s Deficiencies (With Some of My Own Comments)
By guest-blogger Jennifer Granick (with comments from Eric) [Eric’s introduction: Some guest visitors to the blog need no introduction, and that surely describes Jennifer Granick (her Wikipedia page). She’s cast huge shadows over cyberlaw in her various stints, including being…
The Dangerous Meme That Won’t Go Away: Using Copyright Assignments to Suppress Unwanted Content–Scott v. WorldStarHipHop
By Eric Goldman Scott v. WorldStarHipHop, Inc., 2012 WL 1592229 (S.D.N.Y. May 3, 2012) Copyright law wasn’t designed as a privacy enhancing doctrine, but sometimes plaintiffs try to repurpose copyright law anyway. This case is an interesting illustration of how…
Topix Protected by 47 USC 230–Price v. Gannett
By Eric Goldman Price v. Gannett Co., 2012 WL 1570972, (S.D. W. Va. May 1, 2012) This is a pro se case. The plaintiffs alleged that pseudonymous posters made defamatory and otherwise tortious remarks about the plaintiffs on Topix. The…