September 2007 Quick Links Part I
By Eric Goldman Marketing * From the NYT: There are 200+ auto repair shops in the “Iron Triangle” area in New York, and apparently they compete fiercely with each other,…
August 2007 Quick Links, Part I
By Eric Goldman Search Engines * Google extended its ad serving technology to consider a user’s past search phrases in addition to their current search term. * Greg Linden: “Google…
American Blinds-Google Lawsuit Settles
By Eric Goldman Google Inc. v. American Blinds & Wallpaper Factory Inc., 5:03-cv-05340-JF (N.D. Cal. settled August 31, 2007) After almost four years of litigation, the American Blinds lawsuit ended…
Search Engine Strategies Copyright and Trademark Panel
By Eric Goldman Today I participated in the Copyright and Trademark panel at Search Engine Strategies in San Jose, along with Clarke Walton, Eve Chaurand-Fraser of Ask, Mary Berk of…
American Airlines Sues Google Over Keyword Ads
…issue for his clients Wells Fargo and 1-800 Contacts. Lawsuits against Google certainly haven’t gotten easier since the 2d Circuit 1-800 Contacts ruling, but maybe Ross has figured out how…
2007 Cyberspace Law Syllabus
…1-800 Contacts v. WhenU case. The 1-800 Contacts case remains a very important keyword law precedent, but as a teaching case it was just so-so. The adware subject matter increased…
Another Court in 2d Cir. Says Buying Keyword Ads Isn’t TM Use in Commerce–FragranceNet.com v. FragranceX.com
By Eric Goldman FragranceNet.com, Inc. v. FragranceX.com, Inc., 2007 WL 1821153 (E.D.N.Y. June 12, 2007) This case shows the deepening split between the Second Circuit and other circuits on keyword…
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)…
Academic Debate over Trademark Use in Commerce
…has been dispositive in several noteworthy defense wins, including the 1-800 Contacts v. WhenU and Rescuecom v. Google cases. Yet, some experts, such as Prof. McCarthy, believe that the prima…
Utah Bans Keyword Advertising [Updated]
…protect a few noisy Utah trademark owners with weak trademarks (such as 1-800 Contacts and Overstock.com) from legitimate competition via adware. In the process, the law took technology out of…