Academic Debate over Trademark Use in Commerce
By Eric Goldman As regular blog readers know, a hot area in online trademark law is the “trademark use in commerce” element of the plaintiff’s prima facie case. This element has been dispositive in several noteworthy defense wins, including the…
Referencing TM in Online Ad Copy May Be TM Use in Commerce–Hamzik v. Zale
By Eric Goldman Hamzik v. Zale Corp./Delaware, 2007 WL 1174863 (NDNY April 19, 2007) Another lawsuit against an advertiser for buying keyword advertising. In this case, the plaintiff claims a trademark in the term “Dating Ring” and says that Zales.com…
Google Gets Mixed Bag in Latest Ruling in American Blinds Case
By Eric Goldman Google, Inc. v. American Blinds & Wallpaper Factory, Inc., C 03-5340 JF (N.D. Cal. April 18, 2007) The lawsuit between Google and American Blinds has been running for 3 1/2 years now, a very long time in…
Keyword Law Talk
By Eric Goldman Tomorrow I’m giving a talk in Dallas entitled “Keyword Law.” In light of the new Utah law, this turns out to be an interesting time to speak on the topic!
Keyword Advertising as Corporate Identity Theft—Sen. Eastman Defends New Utah Law Banning Keyword Advertising
By Eric Goldman Last month, Utah quietly passed SB 236 to outlaw keyword advertising. Last week, SB 236’s sponsor, Sen. Dan Eastman, blogged a defense of the law. I really respect Sen. Eastman for engaging his critics in the blogosphere,…
March 2007 Quick Links Part 2
By Eric Goldman Yesterday I posted the Google edition of my list of interesting items from March. Today I post the remainder of items that caught my eye last month. Trademarks/Brands * Bosley Medical Institute v. Kremer, 2007 WL 935708…
March 2007 Quick Links, Google Edition
By Eric Goldman My monthly recap of interesting news items grew too big this month, so I’m breaking it into two postings. With so much attention directed towards Google, this first edition of March’s quick links will focus just on…
Utah Bans Keyword Advertising [Updated]
By Eric Goldman Utah SB 236 (the “Trademark Protection Act”), enacted March 19, 2007 Legislators enact stupid laws all of the time, but some laws transcend mere stupidity and produce a single 3 letter response: WTF? And no legislature has…
Rescuecom Files Reply Brief in Rescuecom v. Google
By Eric Goldman In the Second Circuit appeal of Rescuecom v. Google, Rescuecom has filed its reply brief to Google’s first brief and the various amicus briefs filed in support of Google’s position. Rescuecom’s brief relies heavily on McCarthy’s recent…
February 2007 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman * The California Highway Patrol (which, for reasons unclear to me, has investigatory power here) has concluded that the Angelides campaign did not break any laws when they reverse-guessed URLs on Schwarzenegger’s website and found an unrestricted…