Baidu Can Maintain Negligence Claims Against Register.com for Lax Security Practices Which Allegedly Facilitated Cyber-Attack – Baidu v. Register.com
[Post by Venkat] Baidu, Inc. v. Register.com, Inc., Case no. 10 Civ. 444 (DC) (S.D.N.Y.) (July 22, 2010). Background: Baidu registered the domain name with Register.com, a domain name registrar, which provided Baidu with “Internet traffic routing services.” A third…
Yet Another TM Owner Gives Up Against Google–Ezzo v. Google
By Eric Goldman Jamil Ezzo has apparently given up his lawsuit against Google over AdWords. The dismissal. This was a silly lawsuit that never should have been brought (it was over the purported trademark “Locate Plastic Surgeon” for gosh sakes),…
Funky Ninth Circuit Opinion on Domain Names and Nominative Use–Toyota v. Tabari
By Eric Goldman Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. v. Tabari, 2010 WL 2680891 (9th Cir. July 8, 2010) Every time I see a federal appellate opinion on domain names, I’m vaguely reminded of the Country Joe song I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag, whose…
Griper Gets Attorneys’ Fees After Successful Defense–Career Agents v. Careeragentsnetwork.biz
By Eric Goldman Career Agents Network, Inc. v. Careeragentsnetwork.biz, 2010 WL 2632298 (E.D. Mich. June 29, 2010). The CMLP page. The underlying dispute involves a non-commercial gripe site. The trademark owner sells a type of “business in a box” (like…
Q2 2010 Quick Links Part 2
By Eric Goldman Marketing and Advertising * Good talk from FTC Chair Leibowitz: “we have great hopes for self-regulation….So long as self-regulation is making forward progress, the FTC is not interested in regulating” behavioral targeting. * NYT on teaching middle…
Puzzling 9th Circuit Dilution Opinion Over eVisa.com–Visa v. JSL
By Eric Goldman VISA International Service Ass’n v. JSL Corp., No. 08-15206 (9th Cir. June 28, 2010) A number of us in the trademark community are scratching our heads at last week’s Ninth Circuit trademark dilution opinion, authored by Judge…
Payment Service Providers May Be Liable for Counterfeit Website Sales–Gucci v. Frontline
By Eric Goldman Gucci America, Inc. v. Frontline Processing Corp., 2010 WL 2541367 (S.D.N.Y. June 23, 2010) This case relates to an online seller of Gucci counterfeit goods called TheBagAddiction.com, run by Laurette. Gucci already successfully shut down the counterfeit…
YouTube Gets Decisive Win in Viacom/FAPL Case
By Eric Goldman Viacom International, Inc., v. YouTube, Inc., 2010 WL 2532404 (SDNY June 23, 2010). The Viacom v. YouTube case has been noteworthy for numerous reasons. It involves the cherished Internet brands YouTube and Google, it’s been going on…
Google Can’t Shake Cybersquatting Claim–Vulcan Golf v. Google
By Eric Goldman Vulcan Golf, LLC v. Google Inc., 1:07-cv-03371 (N.D. Ill. June 9, 2010). My 2007 blog post when the complaint was filed. My 2008 blog post on the denial of a motion to dismiss. My 2008 blog post…
Another Trademark Owner Apparently Gives Up Lawsuit Against Google–Parts Geek v. US Auto Parts
By Eric Goldman Parts Geek LLC v. U.S. Auto Parts Network, Inc., 5:10-cv-01713-JF (N.D. Cal. voluntary dismissal May 5, 2010) In April, Google successfully transferred the Parts Geek keyword advertising lawsuit from New Jersey to its home court in Northern…