Google Sued for Click Fraud for the First Time in Years–123 Lock and Key v. Google

By Eric Goldman 123 Lock and Key LLC v. Google, Inc. (Wash. Superior Ct. complaint filed May 21, 2010) After Google and Yahoo settled their click fraud lawsuits in 2006, click fraud litigation has been fairly rare. There is a…

Contributory Copyright Infringement Claim May Need Direct Infringer as a Defendant to Succeed–Miller v. Facebook

By Eric Goldman Miller v. Facebook, Inc., 2010 WL 2198204 (N.D. Cal. May 28, 2010) This is my third time blogging about this case (Jan. 2010 post; April 2010 post). The facts as alleged by the plaintiff have always been…

April-May 2010 Quick Links Part 1 (IP Edition)

By Eric Goldman [Note: I just got back from the Netherlands, where I had extremely limited Internet connectivity, so sorry for my absence in the last week (although you were in good hands with Venkat). I will be posting more…

Life May Be “Rad,” But This Trademark Lawsuit Isn’t–Williams v. CafePress.com

By Eric Goldman Williams v. Life’s Rad, 2010 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 46763 (N.D. Cal. May 12, 2010) This lawsuit bummed me out. The trademark at issue–the surfing-inspired “Life’s Rad”–is supposed to lift people up, but it’s hard to maintain a sunny…

A First Look by Tom McCarthy at the Sixth Circuit’s 2010 Victoria’s Secret Tarnishment Decision [Guest Blog Post]

By J. Thomas McCarthy [Eric’s note: Last week, the Sixth Circuit issued a new ruling in the long-running V Secret Catalogue v. Moseley case, this time featuring three opinions from a three-judge panel. Tom McCarthy has generously shared his views…

Second Circuit Stays Hot News Injunction–Barclays v. theflyonthewall

By Eric Goldman Barclays Capital Inc. v. Theflyonthewall.com, Inc., 10-1372-cv (2d Cir. May 19, 2010) This case is my choice for the most interesting Cyberlaw development of 2010 (so far). Unfortunately, I ran out of time to blog it when…

How Much Does 1-800 Contacts Hate Competitive Keyword Advertising? $1.1M Worth!?

By Eric Goldman Rader Fishman & Grauer PLLC v. 1-800 Contacts, Inc., 2:10-cv-00191-TS-DN (redacted complaint filed March 30, 2010; answer and counterclaim filed March 25, 2010; counterclaim answer filed April 19, 2010) 1-800 Contacts has been a repeated guest star…

A Jury Verdict That Competitive Keyword Advertising Isn’t Trademark Infringement–College Network v. Moore

By Eric Goldman College Network, Inc. v. Moore Educational Publishers, Inc., 2010 WL 1923763 (5th Cir. May 12, 2010). The jury verdict form from January 2009. The district court’s final judgment from June 2009. In December, I blogged about the…

FTC Busts Check-Issuing Website for Unfair Practices–FTC v. Qchex

By Eric Goldman Federal Trade Commission v. Neovi, Inc., 09-55093 (9th Cir. May 14, 2010) Qchex allowed registered users to create and send checks via a website. Initially, users could submit bank account information and payee information, and Qchex would…

LimeWire Smacked Down for Inducing Copyright Infringement–Arista Records v. Lime Group

By Eric Goldman Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC, 2010 WL 1914816 (S.D.N.Y. May 11, 2010) This is one of the rare cases where the news reports mostly got it right. Plain and simple, the record labels won a…