Messing with Oscar — Academy Sues Oscarwatch.com
By John Ottaviani Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences v. Stone, No. CV07-02846 RGK CA (C.D. Cal.)(complaint filed May 1, 2007) Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (“AMPAS”), the organization that organizes the Academy Awards,…
Broad Matching Doesn’t Violate Injunction–Rhino Sports v. Sport Court
By Eric Goldman Rhino Sports, Inc. v. Sport Court, Inc., 2007 WL 1302745 (D. Ariz. May 2, 2007) I’ve lamented before that courts don’t seem to understand broad matching (see here and here). Today, I’m changing my tune. Broad matching…
Utah’s “Don’t Email the Kids” Registry a “Financial Failure”
By Eric Goldman A couple of years ago, Utah and Michigan adopted laws creating “don’t email the kids” registries (called the “Child Protection Registry”–see Utah’s and Michigan’s). These laws allow parents to register email addresses held by kids and requires…
April 2007 Quick Links
By Eric Goldman * Rebecca blogs on CollegeNET, Inc. v. XAP Corp., 2007 WL 927946 (D. Or. March 26, 2007), where a jury awarded $4.5M in damages under 43(a) because the defendant had a privacy policy saying it wouldn’t disclose…
Utah Legislators Realizing They Screwed Up By Banning Keyword Advertising
By Eric Goldman Linda Fantin at the Salt Lake Tribune reports on the meeting between Utah legislators and various technology companies (Google, eBay, Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo, 1-800 Contacts and Overstock.com) to discuss the recently enacted Utah Trademark Protection Act banning…
Academic Debate over Trademark Use in Commerce
By Eric Goldman As regular blog readers know, a hot area in online trademark law is the “trademark use in commerce” element of the plaintiff’s prima facie case. This element has been dispositive in several noteworthy defense wins, including the…
Referencing TM in Online Ad Copy May Be TM Use in Commerce–Hamzik v. Zale
By Eric Goldman Hamzik v. Zale Corp./Delaware, 2007 WL 1174863 (NDNY April 19, 2007) Another lawsuit against an advertiser for buying keyword advertising. In this case, the plaintiff claims a trademark in the term “Dating Ring” and says that Zales.com…
Google Gets Mixed Bag in Latest Ruling in American Blinds Case
By Eric Goldman Google, Inc. v. American Blinds & Wallpaper Factory, Inc., C 03-5340 JF (N.D. Cal. April 18, 2007) The lawsuit between Google and American Blinds has been running for 3 1/2 years now, a very long time in…
Keyword Law Talk
By Eric Goldman Tomorrow I’m giving a talk in Dallas entitled “Keyword Law.” In light of the new Utah law, this turns out to be an interesting time to speak on the topic!
Keyword Advertising as Corporate Identity Theft—Sen. Eastman Defends New Utah Law Banning Keyword Advertising
By Eric Goldman Last month, Utah quietly passed SB 236 to outlaw keyword advertising. Last week, SB 236’s sponsor, Sen. Dan Eastman, blogged a defense of the law. I really respect Sen. Eastman for engaging his critics in the blogosphere,…