Trademark

Jones Day v. BlockShopper: Court Chooses Legal Formality Over Common Sense

Last Thursday, a federal district judge denied BlockShopper.com's motion to dismiss Jones Day's complaint

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Illinois

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Trademark

Will Your ISP Stand Up for Your Free Speech Rights?

There are a lot of things to consider when making the decision to launch a blog or website, including questions of cost, ease of use, and ownership of content. Understanding how these considerations impact your legal rights and potential liability can help you make an intelligent choice as to what platform to use and what precautions to take when you speak online (we've got a whole section on these concerns, and others, in our legal guide). But one area most people tend to overlook is whether their

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Trademark Filings as Economic Indicators?

Now this is interesting. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports in an article entitled "What trademarks say about economy," that

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Trademark

CMLP Joins Amicus Brief in Support of BlockShopper.com

Last Friday, the Citizen Media Law Project joined Public Citizen, EFF, and Public Knowledge in filing an amici curiae brief in support of BlockShopper.com's

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Illinois

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Jones Day Gets Trademark Law Wrong, Squelches Legitimate Reporting

Paul Alan Levy of Public Citizen published a fantastic post on Friday about big law firm Jones Day's lawsuit against BlockShopper.com, an online real estate news website covering Chicago, South Florida, Las Vegas, and St.

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Illinois

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Vegas Nightclub's Trademark Claims Against Blogger Likely a Bust

Privé Vegas, LLC and two of its owners sued Las Vegas-based blogger Michael Politz last week, alleging trademark infringement, dilution, and "disaparagement" under the Lanham Act, defamation, trade libel, tortious interference with business relations, and extortion.

Jurisdiction:

Nevada

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Blogger Bullied Over Phrase "Branded Community"

Denise Howell at Lawgarithms points us in the direction of a recent legal threat that goes right to the intersection of trademark law and freedom of speech.

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Text

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More Trademark Goodness From Bill McGeveran

Bill McGeveran, our good friend from University of Minnesota Law School, recently posted on SSRN a new article about the practical and procedural problems associated with trademark fair use and other free-expression-related defenses to a trademark claim.

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Trademark

eBay Shines in Tiffany Trademark Fight

In Tiffany v. eBay, decided today, the Southern District of New York gives helpful bounds to secondary liability for trademark infringement, saying eBay is not liable for its use of the term "Tiffany" nor for its sellers' sales of counterfeit goods. Judge Sullivan's careful analysis leaves the path clear for online marketplaces to flourish, putting enforcement burdens, where they belong, on trademark claimants.

First, the court finds eBay's advertisement, through "Tiffany"-keyed adwords on Google and Yahoo! searches, to be "nominative fair use." Some eBay sellers are offering genuine Tiffany merchandise, as trademark law recognizes is legitimate, and eBay has the right to use the brand name to identify them, rather than "absurd circumlocutions ... [such as] 'silver jewelry from a prestigious New York company where Audrey Hepburn once liked to breakfast.'" Even if search keywords are "use in commerce," therefore, the court finds them non-infringing.

Second, the court holds eBay not liable for the infringements of its users, under either direct or secondary liability theories. Instead, its contributory liability test looks much like the notice-and-takedown regime that the DMCA sets up for copyright: only specific knowledge of infringement can trigger liability, a "showing that a defendant knew or had reason to know of specific instances of actual infringement"; not the "generalized" knowledge of counterfeiting Tiffany would like to attribute to eBay. The court does not impose any prior monitoring obligation, implying only that a defendant must take appropriate steps after being notified of claimed infringement. (The court helpfully notes several times that Tiffany's "Notices of Claimed Infringement" are just claims, not proof, and that some listings have even been reinstated after incorrect claims.)

Jurisdiction:

United States

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Trademark

Appeals Court Rejects Trademark Claims Against Parody Website

In late May, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued an opinion in Utah Lighthouse Ministry v. Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, 2008 WL 22043807 (10th Cir. May 29, 2008).

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Trademark

Digital Media Law Project

Legal Resources for Digital Media

Trademark

Jones Day v. BlockShopper: Court Chooses Legal Formality Over Common Sense

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Will Your ISP Stand Up for Your Free Speech Rights?

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Trademark Filings as Economic Indicators?

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CMLP Joins Amicus Brief in Support of BlockShopper.com

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Jones Day Gets Trademark Law Wrong, Squelches Legitimate Reporting

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Vegas Nightclub's Trademark Claims Against Blogger Likely a Bust

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Blogger Bullied Over Phrase "Branded Community"

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More Trademark Goodness From Bill McGeveran

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eBay Shines in Tiffany Trademark Fight

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Appeals Court Rejects Trademark Claims Against Parody Website

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