Domaining Registrar Defeats Cybersquatting Lawsuit–Philbrick v. eNom
By Eric Goldman Philbrick v. eNom, Inc., 2009 WL 152127 (D.N.H. Jan. 22, 2009). The Justia page. Philbrick’s Sports is a New Hampshire retailer of sporting goods. eNom’s customer registered two domain name variants of Philbrick Sport’s website. When the…
Guerrilla Marketing Under False Pretenses Might Be Passing Off–Heartland v. Forest River
By Eric Goldman Heartland Recreational Vehicles, LLC v. Forest River, Inc., 2009 WL 418079 (N.D. Ind. Feb. 18, 2009). The Justia page. When deciding whether it should bring a lawsuit, a potential plaintiff needs to consider not only their likelihood…
AP Enforcement Action Against Syndicator Survives Dismissal Motion–AP v. All Headline News
By Eric Goldman Associated Press v. All Headline News Corp., 08 Civ 323 (SDNY Feb. 17, 2009) We’ve seen a lot of ruffled feathers over Internet republication of news headlines, ledes and snippets–the most recent being the GateHouse lawsuit and…
Affiliate Liability Talk Notes from SMX West
By Eric Goldman Last week, I spoke for 10 minutes (actually, I took 12) at SMX West on the topic of advertiser liability for affiliates’ actions. My talk notes: General Principles Issue: when are advertisers liable for their affiliates’ behavior?…
Yahoo’s Sale of Competitive Keyword Ads Isn’t False Designation of Origin–Heartbrand Beef v. Lobel’s
By Eric Goldman Heartbrand Beef, Inc. v. Lobel’s of New York, LLC, 2009 WL 311087 (S.D.Tex. Feb. 5, 2009). The Justia page. Heartbrand sells Akaushi beef, a special and very expensive Japanese variety of beef. Heartbrand brought an enforcement action…
2008 Cyberlaw Year-in-Review
By Eric Goldman It’s a sign of my schedule that I’m just now getting to this, and this post will be more pithy than I initially conceived. This post recaps some of the Cyberlaw highlights from last year. Frankly, the…
Online Retailer’s Link to House Brand from Manufacturer’s Product Page Might Infringe–BabyAge v. Leachco
By Eric Goldman BabyAge.com, Inc. v. Leachco, Inc., 2009 WL 82552 (M.D. Pa. Jan. 12, 2009). The Justia page. Welcome to the cutthroat world of pregnancy pillows. Leachco manufactures pregnancy pillows and has a patent on them. BabyAge is an…
Web Host Faces Potential Contributory Trademark Liability–Louis Vuitton v. Akanoc
By Eric Goldman Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. v. Akanoc Solutions, Inc., C 07-03952 JW (N.D. Cal. Dec. 23, 2008) This is one of countless anti-counterfeiting actions by luxury brands against allegedly infringing websites—but the twist is that the brand owner…
Brand Spillovers Article Now Available
By Eric Goldman I have finally posted my article, Brand Spillovers, to SSRN. It will be published in the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology later this year. I have blogged about this project several times over the past 4…
American Airlines v. Yahoo Venue Transfer Denied
By Eric Goldman American Airlines, Inc. v. Yahoo!, Inc., 4:08-CV-626-A (N.D. Tex. Jan. 16, 2009) The procedural battles over American Airlines’ lawsuit against Yahoo for selling trademarked keywords continue. You may recall that American Airlines sued Yahoo in its home…