Lawsuit Over Google Ads for Mobile Services Dismissed Per 230–Goddard v. Google

By Eric Goldman Goddard v. Google, Inc., 2008 WL 5245490 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 17, 2008). My initial post when the complaint was filed. The Justia page. Goddard sued Google because Google displayed third party AdWords ads for allegedly fraudulent mobile…

Vulcan Golf v. Google Class Certification Denied

By Eric Goldman Vulcan Golf, LLC v. Google Inc., 1:07-cv-03371 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 18, 2008). Previous blog posts: initial complaint filed, ruling on motion to dismiss This is a complex lawsuit by trademark owners attacking domaining and the role of…

Google’s Latest Attempt to Kill the CLRB Hanson Lawsuit Fails

By Eric Goldman CLRB Hanson Industries, LLC v. Google, Inc., NO. C 05-03649 JW (N.D. Cal. Dec. 16, 2008) CLRB v. Google is the long-running lawsuit (3 1/2 years and counting) over Google’s adherence to advertising limits that advertisers set…

Patent Lawsuit Filed Over Google Reader–Priest v. Google

By Eric Goldman Priest v. Google, 1:2008cv12056 (D. Mass. complaint filed Dec. 11, 2008). The Justia page. I normally try to stay away from patent lawsuits, and frankly so many are filed against the major search engines that it would…

Keyword Ads and Other Marketing Supports Remote Jurisdiction–Market America v. Optihealth

By Eric Goldman Market America v. Optihealth Products, Inc., 2008 WL 5069802 (M.D.N.C. Nov. 21, 2008) This lawsuit involves the trademark “OPC-3.” “OPC” is the generic term for “group of antioxidant bioflavonoids” that companies sell as dietary supplements. The plaintiff…

November 2008 Quick Links

By Eric Goldman Trademark * NYT: “A handful of new Web sites with names like Typo Bay and Typo Buddy are out to help shoppers save money by searching eBay for misspelled brand names.” In 2005, I blogged that typographical…

Yahoo Countersues American Airlines for Declaratory Judgment

By Eric Goldman Yahoo, Inc. v. American Airlines, Inc., C08-05308 (N.D. Cal. complaint filed Nov. 21, 2008). The Justia page. As you recall, American Airlines recently followed its July settlement with Google by bringing a clone-and-revise trademark infringement lawsuit against…

Google Book Search Settlement Comments (A Little Late)

By Eric Goldman The Google Book Search settlement sparked plenty of discussion, but the coverage was suppressed by the high entry barriers to commenting–specifically, 300 pages of dense slow-reading legalese in the settlement agreement. Some of you may be faster…

Search Engines Aren’t Liable for Gambling Ads Per 230–Cisneros v. Yahoo

By Eric Goldman Cisneros v. Yahoo, CGC-04-433518 (Cal. Superior Ct. “Tentative Trial Decision” Nov. 6, 2008) I am frequently asked if 47 USC 230 protects websites for claims based on the ads they run. My answer is emphatically “yes” unless…

October 2008 Quick Links, Part 3

By Eric Goldman Pornography * Can you believe this? A 15 year old girl took nude photos of herself using her cellphone and sent the photos to her peers. She is now being prosecuted on child pornography charges. The girl’s…