Madison on Drafting Local Court Rules for Patent Cases
By Eric Goldman Michael Madison gives an interesting account of his experiences drafting local court rules for patent cases. While the idea of creating some incentives for parties to engage in forum-shopping may sound good in theory, I wonder how…
GEICO and Google Settle
By Eric Goldman Reuters reports that GEICO and Google have settled their lawsuit. This development isn’t particularly surprising given that the judge practically ordered them to settle. The terms of the settlement are confidential, so we can only speculate what…
The FCC Proclaims Itself the UDRP for 800 Numbers
By Eric Goldman From Kevin Poulson’s Wired story: An entrepreneur registers 800-RED-CROS[S]. He claims to have done so because it has the same number as 800-RED-ARMS, and he was running a business by that name at the time. When he…
Rappers, Car Dealer Ads, and Expansive Interpretations of Trademark Law
By Eric Goldman Broadus v. Gary Barbera Enterprises, Inc. (E.D. Pa. complaint filed Aug. 2005). Ten days ago I blogged about the rapper 50 Cent’s lawsuit against the Gary Barbera dealership for running a car ad that showed a picture…
Student Sues Term Paper Website (and its Host)
Macellari v. Carroll, no. 4:05-CV-04161-JPG (S.D. Ill. complaint filed Aug. 31, 2005). Blue Macellari, a student at Duke and Johns Hopkins, has sued a term paper vendor (Rusty Carroll/R2C2, Inc.) operating three websites (doingmyhomework.com, freeforessays.com and freefortermpapers.com) for copyright infringement,…
Downloading Software onto Home Computer May Be Trespass to Chattels–Sotelo v. DirectRevenue
Sotelo v. DirectRevenue LLC, No. 05 C 2562 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 29, 2005). It was pretty obvious when the complaint was filed in March that this lawsuit warranted careful scrutiny. This initial ruling reinforces that point. This ruling is interesting…
Guest Blogger Mark McKenna
I’m pleased to introduce Mark McKenna as a guest blogger. Mark is an Assistant Professor of Law at St. Louis University School of Law, where he teaches IP courses and civil procedure. Prior to becoming an academic, Mark was a…
Alaska Governor Signs Anti-Adware Law
No surprise, but Gov. Murkowski signed SB 140 into law yesterday, enacting the most problematic anti-adware law to date. In signing the law, the governor said: “By signing this bill, I am sending a strong message that we will not…
LA County Busts Warez Trader
Internet News reports that Jed Frederick Kobles, a Los Angeles warez trader, pleaded guilty to a single count of grand theft after being busted by Los Angeles County High Tech Crimes Unit. I am having a hard time understanding this…
Guest Blogger Ethan Ackerman
I’m pleased to introduce Ethan Ackerman as a guest blogger. Ethan Ackerman is an attorney in Washington DC and previously has been a legislative and technology counsel in the US Senate. He wrote portions of the CAN-SPAM Act and was…