Google Sued for Defamatory Search Result–RSA Enterprises v. Bad Business Bureau
By Eric Goldman RSA Enterprises v. Bad Business Bureau, No. 2:07-cv-01882-HAA-ES (D.N.J. complaint filed April 23, 2007) Bad Business Bureau, a/k/a the Rip-off Report, is a well-known repeat Internet defendant (see this article from the Phoenix New Times explaining why)….
Referencing TM in Online Ad Copy May Be TM Use in Commerce–Hamzik v. Zale
By Eric Goldman Hamzik v. Zale Corp./Delaware, 2007 WL 1174863 (NDNY April 19, 2007) Another lawsuit against an advertiser for buying keyword advertising. In this case, the plaintiff claims a trademark in the term “Dating Ring” and says that Zales.com…
Google Gets Mixed Bag in Latest Ruling in American Blinds Case
By Eric Goldman Google, Inc. v. American Blinds & Wallpaper Factory, Inc., C 03-5340 JF (N.D. Cal. April 18, 2007) The lawsuit between Google and American Blinds has been running for 3 1/2 years now, a very long time in…
Keyword Law Talk
By Eric Goldman Tomorrow I’m giving a talk in Dallas entitled “Keyword Law.” In light of the new Utah law, this turns out to be an interesting time to speak on the topic!
Keyword Advertising as Corporate Identity Theft—Sen. Eastman Defends New Utah Law Banning Keyword Advertising
By Eric Goldman Last month, Utah quietly passed SB 236 to outlaw keyword advertising. Last week, SB 236’s sponsor, Sen. Dan Eastman, blogged a defense of the law. I really respect Sen. Eastman for engaging his critics in the blogosphere,…
March 2007 Quick Links, Google Edition
By Eric Goldman My monthly recap of interesting news items grew too big this month, so I’m breaking it into two postings. With so much attention directed towards Google, this first edition of March’s quick links will focus just on…
AFP v. Google Settles
By Eric Goldman The Agence France-Presse v. Google lawsuit has settled. See news reports: AP, CNET News.com. Like it did with the Associated Press, Google struck a licensing deal for AFP content, including indexing it in Google News. Financial terms…
Google AdWords Contract Upheld (Again)–Feldman v. Google
By Eric Goldman Feldman v. Google, Inc., 2007 WL 966011 (E.D. Pa. March 29, 2007) Yet another click fraud lawsuit, this time involving one of the 556 plaintiffs that opted out of the Google click fraud settlement. In my prior…
Utah Bans Keyword Advertising [Updated]
By Eric Goldman Utah SB 236 (the “Trademark Protection Act”), enacted March 19, 2007 Legislators enact stupid laws all of the time, but some laws transcend mere stupidity and produce a single 3 letter response: WTF? And no legislature has…
Miva Securities Litigation Rejects Most Click Fraud/Syndication Fraud Claims
By Eric Goldman In re Miva, Inc. Securities Litigation, 2007 WL 809686 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 15, 2007) Stockholders of Miva (formerly FindWhat) sued Miva, alleging that Miva had inflated its stock price by making false public statements. In this ruling,…