Talk on Trends in Online Trademark and Marketing Law

In April, I gave a talk in Israel at an inaugural event to celebrate the life and work of Avron Gabrieli, one of Israel’s most venerable and well-known IP lawyers who died in 2015. Initially, the talk topic was styled…

Repeat Plaintiff Can't Sue Search Engines Because Employers Won't Hire Him--Despot v. Baltimore Life Insurance

Repeat Plaintiff Can’t Sue Search Engines Because Employers Won’t Hire Him–Despot v. Baltimore Life Insurance

The plaintiff, David Despot, has “filed many cases in various courts over the years.” Apparently there is some disagreement about the exact number: “Casetext indicates that its own website reveals 10 lawsuits, BLIC refers specifically to 5, Google states that…

An Assessment of the Anthem Data Breach Litigation Rulings (Guest Blog Post)

By guest blogger David Silverman [Eric’s intro: this blog post helps distill Judge Koh’s two rulings, In re Anthem Inc. Data Breach Litig., No. 15-MD-02617 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 16, 2016) (“Anthem I”) and In re Anthem Inc. Data Breach Litig., No. 15-MD-02617 (N.D….

Second Circuit’s Decision in Microsoft v. U.S. (Data Stored in Ireland): Good News for Internet Users? (Guest Blog Post)

by guest blogger Marketa Trimble With the July 14, 2016, decision in Microsoft v. United States (“Microsoft”) by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the question arises – as it usually does in cases involving technology in general…

A Tale of Two Spokeos

A Tale of Two Spokeos

The Supreme Court provided important guidance about Article III standing, especially what constitutes an injury sufficient to satisfy Article III, in the Spokeo v. Robins ruling from May 2016. At the time, it was unclear whether the ruling was more…

Twitter May Be Liable for Sending Texts to Recycled Cellphone Numbers--Nunes v. Twitter

Twitter May Be Liable for Sending Texts to Recycled Cellphone Numbers–Nunes v. Twitter

This is a TCPA lawsuit against Twitter. The claims are based on text messages sent to phone numbers where the subscriber was a Twitter user and signed up to receive text updates but later the phone number got recycled to…

Q2 2016 Quick Links, Part 4 (Marketing, Privacy, Contracts)

Advertising/Marketing * Google will no longer run ads for payday lenders. * GALA: Brazil Enacts New Ambush Marketing Laws in Advance of Rio 2016 Olympic Games * Slate: The Do Not Call list was supposed to defeat telemarketers. Now scammy…

"Manufactured" TCPA Suit Fails For Lack of Standing

“Manufactured” TCPA Suit Fails For Lack of Standing

This is a TCPA lawsuit over unsolicited calls. Although plaintiff resided in Pennsylvania, she purchased 35 pre-paid phones with Florida area codes. The area codes were selected because they are comparatively economically depressed and thus more likely to get collection…

North Carolina State Supreme Court Strikes Down Cyberbullying Statute

North Carolina State Supreme Court Strikes Down Cyberbullying Statute

Dillion Price, the putative victim, was the subject of Facebook discussions by his high school peers. A classmate of Price’s posted a screenshot of a sexually themed text message Price allegedly sent him. Commentary ensued, and defendant Robert Bishop commented…

Scraping Lawsuit Survives Dismissal Motion–CouponCabin v. Savings.com

We blog pretty much every scraping case we see; we just don’t see many of them. As I’ve told you before, scraping is ubiquitous but of dubious legality. Today’s case reiterates just how hard it is for scrapers to win…