Google’s Latest Attempt to Kill the CLRB Hanson Lawsuit Fails
By Eric Goldman CLRB Hanson Industries, LLC v. Google, Inc., NO. C 05-03649 JW (N.D. Cal. Dec. 16, 2008) CLRB v. Google is the long-running lawsuit (3 1/2 years and counting) over Google’s adherence to advertising limits that advertisers set…
Patent Lawsuit Filed Over Google Reader–Priest v. Google
By Eric Goldman Priest v. Google, 1:2008cv12056 (D. Mass. complaint filed Dec. 11, 2008). The Justia page. I normally try to stay away from patent lawsuits, and frankly so many are filed against the major search engines that it would…
Keyword Ads and Other Marketing Supports Remote Jurisdiction–Market America v. Optihealth
By Eric Goldman Market America v. Optihealth Products, Inc., 2008 WL 5069802 (M.D.N.C. Nov. 21, 2008) This lawsuit involves the trademark “OPC-3.” “OPC” is the generic term for “group of antioxidant bioflavonoids” that companies sell as dietary supplements. The plaintiff…
November 2008 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Trademark * NYT: “A handful of new Web sites with names like Typo Bay and Typo Buddy are out to help shoppers save money by searching eBay for misspelled brand names.” In 2005, I blogged that typographical…
Yahoo Countersues American Airlines for Declaratory Judgment
By Eric Goldman Yahoo, Inc. v. American Airlines, Inc., C08-05308 (N.D. Cal. complaint filed Nov. 21, 2008). The Justia page. As you recall, American Airlines recently followed its July settlement with Google by bringing a clone-and-revise trademark infringement lawsuit against…
Google Book Search Settlement Comments (A Little Late)
By Eric Goldman The Google Book Search settlement sparked plenty of discussion, but the coverage was suppressed by the high entry barriers to commenting–specifically, 300 pages of dense slow-reading legalese in the settlement agreement. Some of you may be faster…
Search Engines Aren’t Liable for Gambling Ads Per 230–Cisneros v. Yahoo
By Eric Goldman Cisneros v. Yahoo, CGC-04-433518 (Cal. Superior Ct. “Tentative Trial Decision” Nov. 6, 2008) I am frequently asked if 47 USC 230 protects websites for claims based on the ads they run. My answer is emphatically “yes” unless…
October 2008 Quick Links, Part 3
By Eric Goldman Pornography * Can you believe this? A 15 year old girl took nude photos of herself using her cellphone and sent the photos to her peers. She is now being prosecuted on child pornography charges. The girl’s…
October 2008 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Spam * Kramer v. Perez. An Iowa court awards $236M in damages in a spam case. Venkat’s comments. * After the government lost its jury trial against Impulse Media, the court denied Impulse Media attorneys fees. Contracts…
October 2008 Quick Links, Part 1 (Copyright Edition)
By Eric Goldman * Happy (?) 10th birthday, DMCA. The EFF birthday cards (1, 2). * Speaking of the DMCA, Sen. McCain got a first-hand experience with it when his lawyer complained to YouTube that YouTube was taking down campaign…