1H 2021 Quick Links, Part 3 (Content Moderation, Censorship, Privacy, & More)
…Trump Was Banned on Social Media * NY Times: Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg’s Partnership Did Not Survive Trump * “False Accusation: The Unfounded Claim that Social Media Companies Censor…
1H 2021 Quick Links, Part 1 (IP)
…and trademark dilution under the Lanham Act as a result of Defendant’s purchase of the Caraway Mark so as to advertise Equal Parts when consumers searched for the term ‘Caraway’…
Facebook Defeats Lawsuit By Publishers of Vaccine (Mis?)information–Children’s Health Defense v. Facebook
…not pursue Bivens actions against private entities.” Rights Deprivation by Zuckerberg. Basically, the court has to explain why Mark Zuckerberg isn’t engaged in state action. Because apparently it’s not self-evident….
Ohio Bans Competitive Keyword Advertising by Lawyers
…Google * Competitive Keyword Advertising Still Isn’t Trademark Infringement, Unless…. –Adler v. Reyes & Adler v. McNeil * Three Keyword Advertising Decisions in a Week, and the Trademark Owners Lost…
Want to Engage in Anti-Competitive Trademark Bullying? Second Circuit Says: Great, Have a Nice Day!–1-800 Contacts v. FTC
…of furthering trademark policies.’ That does not mean that every trademark agreement has a legitimate procompetitive justification. If the ‘provisions relating to trademark protection are auxiliary to an underlying illegal…
Florida Hits a New Censorial Low in Internet Regulation (Comments on SB 7072)
…likely constitutional limits on states requiring Internet services to authenticate users. See Backpage v. McKenna. If an “access software provider” assesses a political candidate’s content or website as a security…
New York’s New Post-Mortem Right of Publicity Law Comes Into Effect, Part 2 (Guest Blog Post)
…such exploitation during one’s lifetime as a condition of having a post-mortem right of publicity. Those cases were based on the concept that a trademark must be “used” in order…
Eighth Circuit Embraces the Initial Interest Confusion Doctrine. What??? UGH. No. Why???–Select Comfort v. Baxter
…possible definition of initial interest confusion, because–by definition–marketers always seek to capture “initial consumer interest.” I explained this point over 90 pages in 2005. Because it’s an unworkable definition, the…
When It Came to @RealDonaldTrump, Twitter Couldn’t Please Everyone–Rutenberg v. Twitter
…So, represented by a lawyer (Mark Javitch), she sued Twitter for violating her civil rights. It only takes a few pages for the court to say that Twitter isn’t a…
Deconstructing Justice Thomas’ Pro-Censorship Statement in Knight First Amendment v. Trump
…to extend it to new facts. The Pruneyard decision may be a low-water mark for private property ownership rights, not the foundation of expanded censorship. (There is also the standard…