More Evidence That the Initial Interest Confusion Doctrine is Dying–Dwyer v. Sensocon
By Eric Goldman Dwyer Instruments, Inc. v. Sensocon, Inc., 2012 WL 2049921 (N.D. Ind. June 5, 2012) Earlier this year, I blogged about some research I had done suggesting the declining fortunes of the initial interest confusion doctrine. I anticipated…
University of Alabama Can’t Stop Paintings of Famous Crimson Tide Football Moments–University of Alabama v. New Life Art
By guest blogger Deborah Gerhardt [Eric’s introduction: Deborah Gerhardt is a law professor at University of North Carolina. She is part of the 3G team (including myself and Leah Chan Grinvald) working on the trademark policing article I mentioned last…
Trademark Registrant Isn’t Required to Shut Down Competitive Keyword Advertisers–STK v. Backrack
By Eric Goldman STK LLC v. Backrack, Inc., Cancellation No. 92049332, 2012 WL 2024459 (TTAB May 21, 2012). The TTAB designated this opinion “non-precedential,” which they do with the vast majority of their opinions. Deborah Gerhardt, Leah Chan Grinvald and…
Backpage Gets TRO Against Washington Law Attempting to Bypass Section 230–Backpage v. McKenna
By Eric Goldman Backpage.com, LLC v. McKenna, 2:12-cv-00954-RSM (W.D. Wash. June 5, 2012). The complaint. Backpage’s TRO motion. As part of states’ ongoing crusade against online prostitution ads, earlier this year Washington enacted SB 6251, captioned “Regulating advertising of commercial…
Satirical Anti-Birther Blog Post Protected by DC’s Anti-SLAPP Law–Farah v. Esquire
By Eric Goldman Farah v. Esquire Magazine, Inc., 2012 WL 1970897 (D.D.C. June 4, 2012). TPM coverage. Joseph Farah is CEO/editor of WorldNetDaily, and Jerome Corsi is a senior staff reporter there. WorldNetDaily has published hundreds of stories on Birther…
“Hot Topics in Internet Law” Talk Slides
By Eric Goldman This weekend I presented on “Hot Topics in Internet Law” at the San Francisco IP Law Association’s Spring Seminar in Healdsburg. My talk slides. A few photos from the trip. As I’ve mentioned before, I find “hot…
Java APIs Aren’t Copyrightable–Oracle v. Google (Guest Blog Post)
By Tyler Ochoa (see some of Tyler’s other posts) with comments from Eric Oracle America, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 3:10-cv-03561-WHA (N.D. Cal. May 31, 2012). On Thursday, Judge William Alsup concluded the district court phase of the Oracle v. Google…
PissedConsumer Denied Section 230 Immunity and Can’t Shake Extortion Claim—Vo v. Opinion Corp.
By Eric Goldman Vo Group v. Opinion Corp., 8758/11 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. May 22, 2012) PissedConsumer is a consumer review site occupying the same market niche as Ripoff Report. It only wants negative consumer reviews of businesses (as signaled by…
Google Wins Trade Secret Lawsuit Over Ill-Fated Coffee Meeting–Booloon v. Google
By Eric Goldman Booloon, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 2012 WL 1898937 (Cal. App. Ct. May 25, 2012) Qin Zhang is a technology entrepreneur and an attorney (meaning she’s joined the illustrious–and burgeoning–club of lawyers-as-plaintiffs who have sued Google). Zhang claims…
What Are Appropriate Compensatory Damages for 3 Fake Competitor Reviews? The Surprising Answer–Fireworks Restoration v. Hosto
By Eric Goldman The Fireworks Restoration Company v. Hosto, ED97181 (Mo. App. Ct. May 9, 2012) Hosto and Mitchell formed two companies together. Eventually, the relationship soured, and they acrimoniously split their empire. Still grousy, Hosto (pretending to be former…