Second Circuit Says Google’s Keyword Ad Sales May Be Use in Commerce–Rescuecom v. Google
By Eric Goldman Rescuecom Corp. v. Google Inc., 562 F.3d 123 (2d Cir. April 3, 2009) The Second Circuit has issued its long-anticipated opinion in Rescuecom v. Google over Google’s sale of trademarked keywords as ad triggers. In a disappointing…
“Locate Plastic Surgeon” Trademark Registrant Brings Dubious Enforcement Action–Ezzo v. Google
By Eric Goldman Ezzo v. Google, 2:09-CV-00159 (M.D. Fla. complaint filed March 17, 2009). The Justia page. I’m suffering ennui about blogging pro se lawsuits against companies like Google. Most of them are completely unmeritorious and poorly expressed, so they…
Union Organizers’ Activist/Gripe Sites Don’t Support Trademark Claims–Cintas v. Unite Here
By Eric Goldman Cintas Corp. v. Unite Here, 2009 WL 604099 (S.D.N.Y. March 9, 2009). The Unite Here press release. Cintas, a Fortune 500 company, manufactures uniforms. The defendants are unions and affiliated folks interested in unionizing Cintas’ workforce. This…
Utah HB 450 Dies in Utah Senate Without a Vote
By Eric Goldman After barely passing the Utah House, Utah HB 450–Utah’s third ill-fated attempt to regulate keyword advertising–died quietly last night when the Utah Senate failed to act on it before the Utah Legislature adjourned for the year. My…
Fifth Circuit Denies Yahoo’s Jurisdictional Appeal in American Airlines Case
By Eric Goldman In re: Yahoo! Inc; Overture Services, Inc., No. 09-10098 (5th Cir. March 11, 2009) In January, the Texas district court denied Yahoo’s request to transfer the American Airlines keyword advertising lawsuit out of Texas and into Yahoo’s…
Utah House Barely Passes HB 450 (Maybe)–UPDATED
By Eric Goldman The Utah legislature is continuing its embarrassing third attempt to regulate keyword advertising. Today, after making a ticky-tack amendment, the Utah House passed HB 450 and sent the bill to the Senate. However, the House was sharply…
Utah Trying to Regulate Keyword Advertising….Again!? Utah HB 450
By Eric Goldman When I first heard that the Utah legislature is considering yet another law to regulate keyword advertising, I thought: Are you kidding me? After all, Utah has pursued these regulations twice with disastrous results. The first time,…
Online Resale of Expired Cosmetics May Be Trademark Infringement–Mary Kay v. Weber
By Eric Goldman Mary Kay, Inc. v. Weber, 2009 WL 426470 (N.D. Tex. Feb. 20, 2009). The Justia page. There are a number of Mary Kay meta-sites tracking this and other Mary Kay lawsuits. For more filings and commentary on…
Domaining Registrar Defeats Cybersquatting Lawsuit–Philbrick v. eNom
By Eric Goldman Philbrick v. eNom, Inc., 2009 WL 152127 (D.N.H. Jan. 22, 2009). The Justia page. Philbrick’s Sports is a New Hampshire retailer of sporting goods. eNom’s customer registered two domain name variants of Philbrick Sport’s website. When the…
Guerrilla Marketing Under False Pretenses Might Be Passing Off–Heartland v. Forest River
By Eric Goldman Heartland Recreational Vehicles, LLC v. Forest River, Inc., 2009 WL 418079 (N.D. Ind. Feb. 18, 2009). The Justia page. When deciding whether it should bring a lawsuit, a potential plaintiff needs to consider not only their likelihood…