With Its Australian Court Victory, Google Moves Closer to Legitimizing Keyword Advertising Globally (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Google’s ($GOOG) keyword advertising program, AdWords, has been subject to constant legal challenges for the past decade. After an initial period of legal uncertainty, AdWords’ legal fortunes recently have brightened in the United States and Europe. Earlier this…
Another Google AdWords Advertiser Avoids Trademark Liability–Whipple v. Brigman
By Eric Goldman Whipple v. Brigman, 2013 WL 566817 (W.D. N.C. Feb. 13, 2013) I’ve repeatedly said that trademark lawsuits over Google AdWords advertising rarely make financial sense. This case would clearly support that proposition, except both parties proceeded pro…
Revisiting the Ninth Circuit’s 1979 AMF v. Sleekcraft Case Post-Remand (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Sruli Yellin [Eric’s note: like many IP professors, I’ve taught the 1979 9th Circuit ruling in AMF v. Sleekcraft for years. It’s the flagship Ninth Circuit opinion on the likelihood of consumer confusion factors, and it’s one…
Israeli Court Says Full-Text RSS Feeds Create an Implied Copyright License (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Jonathan J. Klinger Aggregation of content through RSS feeds has been a big issue every since websites began to use RSS to distribute their content. See, e.g., Prof. Goldman’s discussion of the issue in 2005. Still, we…
Territorial Implications of Antigua’s Internet-Based IP Sanctions Against the US (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Marketa Trimble At the end of January 2013, the WTO authorized Antigua to suspend its intellectual property obligations toward the United States in retaliation for the United States’ breach of WTO rules. There are at least three…
Yelp Defeats Legal Challenge to Its User Review Filter (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Demetriades v. Yelp, Case No.: BC484055 (Cal. Superior Ct. Jan. 25, 2013). Some supporting documents: * Yelp’s anti-SLAPP motion to strike * Demetriades’s opposition * Yelp’s reply Yelp ($YELP) uses an automated review filter to suppress some user reviews…
Conference Announcement: A 15 Year Retrospective of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, SCU, March 15
By Eric Goldman On March 15, 2013 at Santa Clara University, the High Tech Law Institute is hosting a conference entitled “A 15 Year Retrospective of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.” Our co-sponsors include the advisory committee to the Congressional…
Newspaper Not Liable for Moderated Online Reader Comments–Gains v. Romkey (Catch-Up Post)
By Eric Goldman Gains v. Romkey, 2012 IL App (3d) 110594-U (Ill. App. Ct. July 3, 2012) [Note: I’m terribly behind in blogging 47 USC 230 cases, and on top of that, this case just showed up in my Westlaw…
What Should We Do About Revenge Porn Sites Like Texxxan? (Forbes Cross-Post)
Periodically, a new controversy springs up about a website that encourages users to post anti-social or distasteful content. A few years ago it was sites like JuicyCampus or People’s Dirt that requested users to gossip about each other; followed by…
“Privacy Policies in the United States” Presentation Slides
By Eric Goldman I recently guest lectured on drafting privacy policies in the United States. My presentation slides. One of my big-picture takeaway points is that privacy laws and associated industry self-regulation have gotten so extensive that drafting privacy policies…