Delayed Search Database Updating Isn’t Defamation–Ferrell v. Yahoo and Google
This lawsuit is another unsuccessful attempt to manufacture an American “right to be forgotten.” Keyonna Ferrell sued Google and Yahoo pro se because allegedly she removed images from Pinterest but the search engines didn’t update their search results to reflect…
Trade School’s Domain Name Lawsuit Drops Like a (Granite) Rock
I don’t often blog cases where New Hampshire figures so prominently, so this is a shoutout to all of my New Hampshirian/New Hampshirite friends! The litigants are competitor schools that train tradespeople such as plumbers and gas fitters. Granite State…
Troubling Trademark Ruling Over Amazon’s Internal Search Results–MTM v. Amazon (Forbes Cross-Post)
When a consumer asks a retailer for a product the retailer doesn’t carry, how should the retailer respond? A recent federal appellate court opinion suggested that Amazon.com gave the wrong answers to consumers searching for a watch brand that it…
Confusion From Competitive Keyword Advertising? Fuhgeddaboudit
[Note: I wrote this post over the weekend, before the atrocious MTM v. Amazon case. I think virtually all of this post remains current despite that ruling. I’ll blog the MTM case separately.] I’ve been chronicling the futility of competitive…
Competitive Keyword Advertising Permitted As Nominative Use–ElitePay Global v. CardPaymentOptions
I know, it’s getting repetitive blogging about competitive keyword advertising cases failing in court. But trademark owners keep bringing them, so I’ll keep blogging them. The Ruling The trademark owner does business as ElitePay Global. It provides “merchant payment solutions…
Google And Yahoo Defeat Last Remaining Lawsuit Over Competitive Keyword Advertising (Forbes Cross-Post)
Keyword advertising using competitors’ trademarks is now so well-accepted, it may be hard to remember that the practice used to generate serious debate among lawyers and ethicists. In particular, the search engines drew substantial legal fire from trademark owners for…
Can Lawyers Buy Keyword Ads On Each Others’ Names At Google? (Forbes Cross-Post)
“Competitive keyword advertising” occurs when a company buys the trademarks of its competition as keywords for search engine marketing. In the 2000s, it was one of the most interesting and hotly-contested issues of Internet Law as trademark owners filed many…
Mixed Ruling in Competitive Keyword Advertising Case–Goldline v. Regal
The lawsuit’s principal participants are rivals in the precious metals and coin industry. The defendant organization, Regal, has an affiliate program, and it appears that some affiliates bought competitive keyword advertising using the plaintiff Goldline’s trademark. The ruling is on…
Europe’s Antitrust Move Against Google: A Linkwrap
For outside observers, it’s always thrilling to see two elephants like the EC and Google go tusk-to-tusk in a high-stakes battle. Normally, the government holds the edge in such clashes; after all, their enforcement resources are functionally limitless. But Google’s…
Q4 2014 & Q1 2015 Quick Links Part 7 (Consumer Reviews, RTBF, Defamation, Censorship, Sec. 230)
International Censorship * WaPo: This was the Internet’s worst, best year ever * Wired: Russia’s Creeping Descent Into Internet Censorship * Washington Post: Russia just made a ton of Internet memes illegal * NY Times: Hungary Drops Internet Tax Plan…