By Eric Goldman SMJ Group, Inc. v. 417 Lafayette Restaurant LLC, 2006 WL 1881768 (S.D.N.Y July 6, 2006) I’ve read so many horrible trademark decisions that I barely notice the garden-variety judicial screw-up. But this case is so exceptional and…
By John Ottaviani Clean Flicks of Colorado, LLC vs. Soderbergh, No. 02-CV-01662-RPM (D. Colo., July 6, 2006). The entertainment world has given us yet another example as to why one should be very wary of creating or investing in a…
Ken Myers, a recent Harvard Law School graduate and soon-to-be attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell, has posted an article, Wikimmunity, to SSRN. The article concludes that Wikipedia will be squarely immunized from liability by 47 USC 230. While this conclusion…
By Eric Goldman In a move that’s sure to disappoint no one, the Direct Marketing Association is going to end the Telephone Preference Service everywhere except for Maine, Pennsylvania and Wyoming (where the TPS is the statutory default do-not-call list)….
By Eric Goldman A lot of attention has been directed to Merriam-Webster’s addition of Google to its dictionary–as a verb, no less. I’m sure the Google trademark department isn’t thrilled about the genericide implications of this. Meanwhile, this announcement overshadowed…
By Eric Goldman BusinessWeek ran an article on Google’s new product launches entitled “So Much Fanfare, So Few Hits.” The article’s basic thesis: “after sparking substantial buzz, most of Google’s nonsearch offerings quickly fade from view…[a]n analysis of some two…
By Eric Goldman There was a hearing in the KinderStart v. Google case last Friday. The CNET News.com report does a good job recapping the action. (Here’s the recap from the Register). You should read the whole News.com article, but…
By Eric Goldman D’Alonzo v. Truscello, 2006 Phila. Ct. Com. Pl. LEXIS 244 (Phila. Ct. Common Pleas May 31, 2006) Another 230 case, another defense win. Yawn. However, this case is noteworthy because it addresses (albeit, glibly) a thorny 230…
By Eric Goldman Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of the Grokster Supreme Court ruling. This opinion was one of the most hotly anticipated Supreme Court opinions relating to copyrights (and perhaps any subject matter) of the last decade or…
By Eric Goldman The Center for Democracy & Technology has provided a public service by releasing its report, “Spyware Enforcement.” The report describes, in table format, various federal and state enforcement actions against spyware purveyors. The report summarizes the action:…