Lifestyle Lift Tries to Use TM Law to Shut Down User Discussions; Website Countersues for Shilling–Lifestyle Lift v. RealSelf
By Eric Goldman Lifestyle Lift Holding, Inc. v. RealSelf Inc., 2:08-cv-10089-PJD-RSW (complaint filed Jan. 7, 2008 and answer/counterclaims filed March 3, 2008) [disclosure note: I have done some legal work for RealSelf, including some limited counseling on this lawsuit] No…
Feb. 2008 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman Advertising * BusinessWeek: Monetizing social networking sites isn’t as easy as everyone had hoped, clickthrough rates are through the floor (0.04%!), and ad proliferation on the sites is driving users away. * Wilbur, Kenneth C. and Zhu,…
Rescuecom v. Google Oral Arguments Finally Calendared
By Eric Goldman You may recall Rescuecom v. Google, where the district court dismissed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Google for selling trademarked keywords because the sales lacked the requisite use in commerce. We are all watching this case closely…
Eric Menhart Backs Off CyberLaw Trademark Claim
By Eric Goldman You may recall that last month we all had a good laugh over self-proclaimed Cyberlawyer Eric Menhart’s trademark application for the term “CyberLaw” to describe his Cyberlaw practice. (In case it wasn’t clear, we weren’t laughing WITH…
McKenna on Trademark Use in Commerce
By Eric Goldman As you know, a big issue in online trademark law is the meaning and import of a “trademark use in commerce” requirement. To win its case, a trademark plaintiff must show that the defendant made a use…
Jan. 2008 Quick Links (IP Edition)
By Eric Goldman Trademarks and Domain Names * Adidas America, Inc. v. Payless Shoesource, Inc., 2007 WL 4482201 (D. Oregon Dec. 21, 2007). This case (1) discusses whether advice of counsel is a defense against willfulness in the trademark context,…
1-800 SKI VAIL Doesn’t Infringe–Vail Associates v. Vend-Tel-Co
By Eric Goldman Vail Associates, Inc. v. Vend-Tel-Co., Ltd., 2008 WL 342272 (10th Cir. Feb. 7, 2008) This case nicely illustrates that a vanity 800 number containing a third party trademark doesn’t create a likelihood of consumer confusion. To the…
Kentucky Court Votes Keyword Ads = TM Use in Commerce–TDI v. Golf Preservations
By Eric Goldman T.D.I. International, Inc. v. Golf Preservations, Inc., 2008 WL 294531 (E.D. Ky. Jan. 31, 2008) In a thinly reasoned opinion with meager facts, a Kentucky federal court meekly voted that keyword advertising is a trademark use in…
ABA IP Section Quietly Considering Anti-Consumer Proposals to Regulate Keyword Advertising
By Corynne McSherry and Eric Goldman [Eric’s note: this is a bit of an unusual post for this blog, as it is being simultaneously posted both here and on the EFF Deep Links site] The tussle over keyword advertising has…
Who Owns “CyberLaw”(TM)? Eric Menhart, a DC IP Attorney, Thinks He Does
By Eric Goldman Every now and then, we see comical efforts to claim trademark rights in common Internet-related terms. You might recall that the word “Internet” itself was once a trademark (see a list of registrants dated 1994); the term…