Adwords Ad Creates Initial Interest Confusion–Storus v. Aroa
…that displaying a competitor’s trademark in Adwords ad copy constitutes impermissible initial interest confusion, leading to a summary judgment win for the trademark owner. This is one of the first…
Utah Quietly Killing the Trademark Protection Act [UPDATED]
…(Utah’s phrase for the new sui generis property right it created in the Trademark Protection Act). As I blogged before, the amendments instead focus on allowing trademark owners to electronically…
Feb. 2008 Quick Links
…* The Utah legislature is considering entering the marketplace again, this time through a certification mark program for Internet access providers who are willing to combat porn. See HB407. Of…
McKenna on Trademark Use in Commerce
…his argument. Mark’s paper suggests that (as trademark law is currently constructed) we can never avoid a messy inquiry into consumer confusion in trademark cases, making trademark cases inherently difficult…
1-800 SKI VAIL Doesn’t Infringe–Vail Associates v. Vend-Tel-Co
…trademark doesn’t create a likelihood of consumer confusion. To the extent that 800 numbers are analogizable to keyword advertising, this case suggests that maybe keyword trademark triggering doesn’t either. The…
Road Show Spring 2008
…be held in Berkeley. This hasn’t been publicly announced, but I promise you it will be relevant to this blog’s audience and a top-notch event, so mark your calendars now….
December 2007 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Marketing * I’ve blogged about Various, which operates AdultFriendFinder.com, before. They made the news recently in two ways. First, they sold to Penthouse for half-a-billion dollars. Second,…
Keyword Advertising is TM Use in Commerce But Doesn’t Violate Injunction–Boston Duck Tours v. Super Duck Tours
…from the First Circuit (in Massachusetts) deemed keyword advertising to be a trademark use in commerce but concluded that the trademark-triggered keyword advertising didn’t violate the governing injunction. This case…
Avvo Wins Big in Ratings Lawsuit–Browne v. Avvo
…to be regulated by the act, even when the publication of those rankings is supported by advertising (a conclusion I fully agree with, but many courts–especially in the trademark arena–would…
Facebook v. ConnectU Update
…individual defendants) You may recall the intertwined relationship between ConnectU and Facebook. ConnectU was a dorm-room project at Harvard. The students hired Mark Zuckerberg to help with the programming. Shortly…