KinderStart Lawsuit Dismissed (With Leave to Amend)
By Eric Goldman KinderStart v. Google, Case 5:06-cv-02057-JF (N.D. Cal. motion to dismiss granted July 13, 2006) The judge granted Google’s motion to dismiss in the KinderStart lawsuit. Given the weakness of the lawsuit and the tenor of the judge’s…
Google Hits and Misses
By Eric Goldman BusinessWeek ran an article on Google’s new product launches entitled “So Much Fanfare, So Few Hits.” The article’s basic thesis: “after sparking substantial buzz, most of Google’s nonsearch offerings quickly fade from view…[a]n analysis of some two…
KinderStart Hearing and Source Documents
By Eric Goldman There was a hearing in the KinderStart v. Google case last Friday. The CNET News.com report does a good job recapping the action. (Here’s the recap from the Register). You should read the whole News.com article, but…
Google Child Porn Lawsuit Withdrawn–Toback v. Google
By Eric Goldman Sensing that his 15 minutes of fame was up, Jeffrey Toback has withdrawn his lawsuit against Google regarding Google’s alleged facilitation of child pornography. This withdrawal is hardly surprising given the lawsuit’s complete lack of merit. Nevertheless,…
Congress to Make Search Engine Bias Illegal?
By Eric Goldman Like we couldn’t see this coming. To make the point that the content providers are playing with fire, one member of Congress has proposed to sweep them into the Net Neutrality legislation (see the text). Ha ha….
“Must Carry” Lawsuit Against Search Engines–Langdon v. Google
By Eric Goldman Langdon v. Google, 1:06-cv-00319-JJF (D. Delaware complaint filed May 17, 2006) Omigosh, will these lawsuits over search engine editorial discretion ever cease? Earlier this week I reported on (yet another) lawsuit against Google for dropping a website…
Google Avoids Another Lawsuit Over Rankings (For Now)–Roberts v. Google
By Eric Goldman Roberts v. Google, No. 1-06-CV-063047 (Cal. Superior Ct. complaint filed May 5, 2006 but voluntarily dismissed) In what he claims is the “first legitimate complaint vs google regarding search result issues,” Mark Roberts, a proprietor of two…
Search Engines Awarded Legal Fees in Unmeritorious Copyright Case–Newborn v. Yahoo
By Eric Goldman Newborn v. Yahoo, 2006 WL 1409769 (D.D.C. May 23, 2006) I blogged about this case in November 2005. At that time, the plaintiff sued Yahoo and Google under copyright and trademark law because the search engines had…
Merck v. Mediplan Redux–Keyword Purchases Really Aren’t Trademark Use
By Eric Goldman Merck & Co. v. Mediplan Health Consulting, Inc., 2006 WL 1418616 (SDNY motion for reconsideration denied May 24, 2006) In late March, the legality of the search engine keyword advertising industry got very murky due to two…
Edina Realty v. TheMLSOnline Settles
By Eric Goldman The Edina Realty v. TheMLSOnline case, which held (among other things) that purchasing a trademarked keyword was a trademark use in commerce, has reportedly settled, according to the Associated Press. That leaves in place the conflict between…