Important Ninth Circuit Ruling on Keyword Advertising, Plus Recaps of the Past 4 Months of Keyword Ad Decisions
By Eric Goldman Network Automation, Inc. v. Advanced System Concepts, Inc., 2011 WL 815806 (9th Cir. March 8, 2011) [warning: this blog post is nearly 5,000 words] Introduction We’ve had surprisingly few appellate decisions involving keyword advertising generally, and almost…
Jan.-Feb. 2011 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Search Engines Google’s search algorithm has been very much in the news the past 2 months! * Google’s announcements: – “Google search and search engine spam” – Matt Cutts explains Google penalties in a video. – “Microsoft’s…
Savvy Louisiana Ruling on Metatags–Southern Snow v. Snowizard
By Eric Goldman Southern Snow Mfg. Inc. v. Sno Wizards Holdings, Inc., 2011 WL 601639 (E.D. La. Feb. 16, 2011) Have I ever mentioned how much I hate metatags cases? They have led to some godawful rulings. But surprisingly, today’s…
Google Suffers Surprising Preliminary Loss in Keyword Advertising Case–Jurin v. Google
By Eric Goldman Jurin v. Google, 2011 WL 572300 (E.D Cal. Feb. 15, 2011) A surprising ruling! You may recall Jurin, trademark owner of the term “styrotrim.” He sued Google in summer 2009, but quickly dismissed the lawsuit after he…
Microsoft Adopts Google-Style Trademark Policy for Keyword Advertising
By Eric Goldman I have gotten several emails relaying this announcement from Microsoft: We are writing to alert you to some pending changes to the trademark policy within the Microsoft Advertising adCenter Intellectual Property Guidelines. Starting March 3, 2011, adCenter…
Grimmelmann on “Search Neutrality”
By Eric Goldman James Grimmelmann, Some Skepticism About Search Neutrality, in THE NEXT DIGITAL DECADE: ESSAYS ON THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET (Berin Szoka & Adam Marcus, eds. 2010). James Grimmelmann wrote a terrific must-read book chapter on search neutrality….
Top 5 Cyberlaw Developments of 2010, Plus a 2010 Year-in-Review
By Eric Goldman Earlier this Fall, I posted my top 8 trends in Internet law, and that’s a good place to start if you want to see how I think things are developing. Because of that post, this year I’m…
Keyword Advertiser Headed to Trial–Soaring Helmet v. Nanal
By Eric Goldman Soaring Helmet Corp. v. Nanal, Inc., 2011 WL 39058 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 3, 2011) I previously blogged on this case in 2009 when Soaring Helmet sued Google for selling keyword advertising triggered on its trademark. Soaring Helmet…
Search Engines Sued for Accepting Keyword Advertising on “Cheese of the Month Club” Trademark–Pathak v. ICG
By Eric Goldman Pathak v. ICG America, Inc., 5:11-cv-00055-VAP -OP (C.D. Cal. complaint filed Jan. 6, 2011) Pathak’s lawsuit is the latest iteration in the litigation deathmatch royale taking place among retailers with “[Food] of the month club” trademarks. See…
Hypocrisy Alert?! Expedia, a “FairSearch” Member, Marginalizes American Airlines in Its Search Results
By Eric Goldman Just like manufacturers often have complicated relationships with their retailers, airlines and travel aggregators simultaneously compete and cooperate with each other. Airlines value the extra visibility that aggregators give them, but the airlines pay for that premium;…