SEO/Web Design Consultant Faces Contributory Trademark Liability for “Copycat” E-Commerce Site–Roger Cleveland Golf v. Price
By Eric Goldman Roger Cleveland Golf Co. v. Price, 2010 WL 5019260 (D. S.C. Dec. 3, 2010). [Note: the case captioning is probably wrong. Apparently, it should have been Roger Cleveland Golf Co. v. Prince] Online contributory trademark infringement liability…
Rosetta Stone v. Google Amicus Briefs in Support of Google
By Eric Goldman Three amicus briefs were filed in support of Google in the Rosetta Stone v. Google appeal. eBay and Yahoo. This is the “industry” brief, although in the past, typically more players have joined a brief like this….
Court Holds Defendant in Contempt for Failing to Scrub Trademark Use From the Internet — TDC Int’l v. Burnham
[Post by Venkat, with comments from Eric] TDC Int’l v. Burnham, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116741 (E.D. Mich; Nov. 2, 2010) TDC sued Burnham based on Burnham’s use of the “Quick and Easy Moving” mark, which supposedly infringed on TDC’s…
Rosetta Stone v. Google Appellate Briefs: Google’s Opening Brief and Rosetta Stone’s Unredacted Brief
By Eric Goldman Due to the intervention of Public Citizen, Rosetta Stone filed an unredacted brief in its appeal of Rosetta Stone v. Google. The actual redacted material seemed hardly worthy of confidentiality; in some cases, the information already was…
Wildcarding Subdomains Is OK; Reverse Domain Name Hijacking Isn’t–Goforit v. Digimedia
By Eric Goldman Goforit Entertainment LLC v. Digimedia.com LP, 2010 WL 4602549 (N.D. Tex. Oct. 25, 2010). See the related personal jurisdiction ruling from 2007 featuring a completely different but still ridiculously large and expensive cast of lawyers. This is…
Amazon Isn’t Liable for Rogue Affiliate’s Keyword Ad Buys–Sellify v. Amazon
By Eric Goldman Sellify Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 2010 WL 4455830 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 4, 2010). The initial complaint. Christopher Maki runs Sellify, which in turn runs a website/eBay store called OneQuality.com. An Amazon affiliate, “Cutting Edge Designs,” purchased the keywords…
Twitter Clarifies Usage Rules, but AFP Still Claims Unbridled Right to Use Content Posted to “Twitter/TwitPic”
[Post by Venkat] Twitter recently issued new guidelines regarding use of the “Twitter” and “Tweet” marks, and use of the underlying tweets by users and third parties as well: “Guidelines for Use of the Twitter Trademark.” The guidelines prompted some…
Holding on to a Domain Name to Gain Leverage in a Business Dispute Can Constitute Cybersquatting — DSPT Int’l v. Nahum
[Post by Venkat] DSPT International v. Nahum, Case No. 08-5506 (9th Cir.; Oct. 27, 2010) This case involves the familiar story of a company leaving the domain name registration in the hands of someone who performed web design services (in…
October 2010 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Copyright * Greg Sandoval discusses copyright trolls with Cindy Cohn. You may recall I had an “interview” with Cindy as a guest lecture in my Internet Law course. And a belated congratulations to Cindy for her recognition…
Plaintiff-Side Briefs in Rosetta Stone v. Google Appeal
By Eric Goldman Rosetta Stone and five amici groups have filed their briefs in the Fourth Circuit appeal in Rosetta Stone v. Google. The filings: Rosetta Stone’s opening appellate brief. It appears Rosetta Stone has new appellate counsel: Terrence Ross…