Tenth Circuit Kills the Initial Interest Confusion Doctrine–1-800 Contacts v. Lens.com
By Eric Goldman 1-800 Contacts, Inc. v. Lens.com, Inc., 2013 WL 3665627 (10th Cir. July 16, 2013) Here are some things I hate: * duplicitous litigants, such as plaintiffs who buy competitive keyword advertising yet sue competitors for doing the…
Think You Want To Be Told About Product Placements In Movies? Think Again (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Do you want movie producers to tell you when they have accepted money from brand owners to showcase their brands in movies, a phenomenon called product placement? Most people would say yes. We dislike thinking that we’re…
Some 47 USC 230 Cases From the Past Year You Might Have Missed (Because I Didn’t Blog Them)
By Eric Goldman How do you celebrate the Fourth of July? I spent the holiday thinking about how 47 USC 230 enhances my freedoms. However, I’ve been feeling a little guilty because I try to blog every Section 230 case…
“Heisman Pose” Photographer’s Lawsuit Whittled Down–Masck v. Sports Illustrated
By Jake McGowan Masck v. Sports Illustrated, et al., 2:13-cv-10226-GAD-DRG (E.D. Mich. June 11, 2013) Back in February, we blogged about photographer Brian Masck’s Shakespearean complaint, asserting copyright infringement claims (and others) against numerous defendants for using his famous “Heisman…
H1 2013 Quick Links, Part 1 (IP)
By Eric Goldman and Jake McGowan Copyright * France is scaling back its three-strikes policy because “suspending Internet connections was incompatible with the French government’s hopes of spurring growth in the digital economy.” Given its horrendous track record of anti-Internet regulations,…
Google Crushes Home Decor Center’s Trademark Challenge to AdWords
By Eric Goldman Home Decor Center, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 2:12-cv-05706-GW-SH (C.D. Cal. May 9, 2013) Home Decor Center sued Google in the wake of the Fourth Circuit’s Rosetta Stone ruling. The lawsuit did not go well for it. Recently,…
Suing Over Keyword Advertising Is A Bad Business Decision For Trademark Owners–General Steel v. Chumley (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman General Steel Domestic Sales, LLC v. Chumley, 2013 WL 1900562 (D. Colo. May 7, 2013) Trademark owners rarely win keyword advertising lawsuits in court. Reinforcing this conclusion, another trademark owner lost a trial over competitive keyword advertising…
Suing Like It’s 2009: Parts.com Sues Google and Yahoo for Keyword Advertising
By Eric Goldman Parts.com v. Google, 3:13-cv-01074-JLS-WMC (S.D. Cal. complaint filed May 6, 2013); and Parts.com v. Yahoo, 3:13-cv-01078-AJB-JMA (S.D. Cal. complaint filed May 6, 2013) _____ In the immediate wake of the Second Circuit’s Rescuecom ruling in 2009, about…
Differences Between Consumer Surveys for Trademark Cases and False Advertising Cases
By Eric Goldman In February, I spoke about the differences between consumer surveys in trademark cases compared with false advertising cases. My talk notes: Overall, the similarities between consumer survey in the two types of cases outweigh the differences. So…
Typosquatting Claims Against Security Researcher Are Legally Complicated – Gioconda v. Kenzie
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Gioconda Law Group v. Kenzie, 2012 US Dist LEXIS 187801 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 23, 2013) Kenzie is a security researcher who has registered numerous domain names that are typographic errors of well-known trademarks (e.g., rnastercard, rncdonalds, nevvscorp,…