New Initial Interest Confusion Case in Sixth Circuit
Stilson & Associates v. Stilson Consulting Group, 2005 Fed. App. 0363N (6th Cir. May 6, 2005). Alden Stilson founded a civil engineering firm in the 1940s called “Alden Stilson & Associates.” By the 1980s, the name devolved to “Stilson &…
New Search Engine Keyword Lawsuit–Panicware v. Stopzilla
Panicware v. International Software Systems Solutions (SDNY complaint filed April 27, 2005). Panicware is suing a competitor Stopzilla for purchasing ads triggered by the keyword “POP-UP STOPPER,” which purportedly diverts Panicware’s customers. As the press release says, “There is no…
Calboli on Trademark Assignment in Gross
My colleague Irene Calboli has written a paper on trademark assignment in gross entitled Trademark Assignment With Goodwill: A Concept Whose Time Has Gone, scheduled to be published in the Florida Law Review later this year. She thoroughly recounts the…
Widmaier on Internet Trademark Law
Uli Widmaier of Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson LLP has written an important new article, Use, Liability, and the Structure of Trademark Law, 33 Hofstra L. Rev. 603 (2004). The article makes a persuasive argument why keyword triggering should…
Walmart Foundation Uses Copyright to Curtail Griper
The Walmart Foundation has gone after the gripe site “walmart-foundation.org” using 512(c)(3) notices to take down images that the griper took from walmartfoundation.org. A few observations about this: * copyright is an extremely effective tool against gripers. Using a 512(c)(3)…
House Passes Trademark Dilution Revision Act
The House has passed the Trademark Dilution Revision Act and sent it to the Senate. The law is pretty sweepingly favorable for trademark owners–not a lot of good news for trademark defendants. UPDATE: The law has passed. My comments on…
My Take on Google v. American Blinds
Google v. American Blinds & Wallpaper Factory, 2005 WL 832398 (N.D. Cal. March 30, 2005). I’m a little late blogging the case, but I finally had a chance to read the opinion. On one level, the opinion isn’t all that…
New Case on Indexable Uses of Trademarks on Web Pages
Independent Living Aids, Inc. v. Maxi-Aids, Inc., 2005 WL 756676 (2d Cir. April 4, 2005) (unpublished/uncitable decision). This opinion is the latest in a string of rulings involving a trademark infringement claim between two manufacturers of equipment for physically challenged…
Google v. Froogles
Google has sued discount shopping site Froogles for trademark infringement. This is not the first time the parties have met; Google lost a UDRP against Froogles already. Most interesting line from the complaint: “As between the parties, Google is the…
NPR on Whois and Privacy
Larry Abramson of NPR ran a story entitled “New Laws on Domain Names Aim to Stem Online Fraud” (specifically referring to the Fraudulent Online Identity Sanctions Act, passed as part of the Intellectual Property Protection in Courts Administration Act). My…