July 2010 Quick Links, Part 1 (IP Edition)
By Eric Goldman Trademarks * Rebelution, LLC v. Perez, 2010 WL 3036217 (N.D. Cal. July 30, 2010). The plaintiff is a band named Rebelution. The defendant is a music performer named Pitbull who released an album “Pitbull Starring in Rebelution”…
E-SIGN Prevents Enforcement of Emailed Contract Terms–Buckles v. Investordigs
By John Ottaviani Buckles Management, LLC v. Investordigs, LLC, No. 10-cv-00508-LTB-BNB (D. Colo. July 23, 2010). It has been about 10 years now since Congress adopted the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (commonly known as “E-Sign”)….
Book Review: Building Web Reputation Systems by Farmer & Glass
By Eric Goldman Building Web Reputation Systems by F. Randall Farmer & Bryce Glass (O’Reilly 2010) [affiliate link] As you may know, for the past couple of years, I have been researching how we regulate reputation systems. My most recent…
eBay Venue Selection Clause Upheld in Texas
By Eric Goldman In re eBay, Inc., 2010 WL 2695803 (Tex. App. Ct. July 8, 2010) In Comb v. PayPal, 218 F. Supp. 2d 1165 (N.D. Cal. 2002), PayPal defended a putative class action by invoking the arbitration clause in…
Funky Ninth Circuit Opinion on Domain Names and Nominative Use–Toyota v. Tabari
By Eric Goldman Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. v. Tabari, 2010 WL 2680891 (9th Cir. July 8, 2010) Every time I see a federal appellate opinion on domain names, I’m vaguely reminded of the Country Joe song I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag, whose…
Online Sports Ticketing Exchange Wins Dismissal Under Website User Agreement — Duffy v. The Ticketreserve, Inc.
[Post by Venkat] Duffy v. The Ticketreserve Inc. (FirstDIBZ.com), Case No. 09 C 1746 (N.D. Ill. July 6, 2010) FirstDIBZ.com operates an online market place where end users can “buy, sell, and trade options to purchase tickets to sporting events.”…
Q2 2010 Quick Links Part 2
By Eric Goldman Marketing and Advertising * Good talk from FTC Chair Leibowitz: “we have great hopes for self-regulation….So long as self-regulation is making forward progress, the FTC is not interested in regulating” behavioral targeting. * NYT on teaching middle…
Payment Service Providers May Be Liable for Counterfeit Website Sales–Gucci v. Frontline
By Eric Goldman Gucci America, Inc. v. Frontline Processing Corp., 2010 WL 2541367 (S.D.N.Y. June 23, 2010) This case relates to an online seller of Gucci counterfeit goods called TheBagAddiction.com, run by Laurette. Gucci already successfully shut down the counterfeit…
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…