Greg Lastowka is an Associate Professor of Law at the Rutgers School of Law, Camden, and he finished a (draft) paper titled Google’s Law [PDF], which he says is a discussion of trademark law matters and the suits against Google for its AdWords practices (with some general Google history thrown in). Greg wraps it up for us:
Google Wields Precedent In Trademark Case
Google has beaten a couple of challenges to AdWords over competitor usage of trademarks as keywords, but they now have a third lawsuit coming to them from American Blind & Wallpaper Factory.
Google, AOL, Earthlink, and Ask are all on the receiving end of American Blind & Wallpaper Factory’s lawsuit over trademark infringement. ABWF contended the use of its trademarks as keywords to trigger competitor advertising violated those marks.
Utah vs. Google: Trademark Debates Heat Up
The Utah State Legislature has passed a bill that would make it illegal to purchase keywords relating to a competitor’s product in order to show up alongside them in search results. The Trademark Protection Act has come under much public scrutiny, most notably by Google.
Google Responds To GMail Trademark Dispute
Addressing a petition for cancellation of the GMail trademark in the US, Google responded to the US Patent and Trademark Office that International Independent Investment Research’s application for the trademark was invalid from the beginning.
Yahoo To File Trademark Complaint Against AOL?
Yahoo may be set to file opposition to AOL’s use of Instant Messenger at the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Google’s GMail Trademark Challenged In US
Google hasn’t had much luck in Europe holding on to its Gmail trademark, but we haven’t heard much in the way of a challenge in the US. A petition for cancellation filed at the US Patent and Trademark Office shows that it certainly hasn’t gone unchallenged.
George Lucas Declares Trademark War On Digg
There’s no balance in the Force with the Digg.com around, says LucasFilms, who has filed a trademark complaint against the social news site. Diggers haven’t been this torn since they walked out of The Phantom Menace and realized how much it sucked.
Cisco Calls Apple On Trademark Infringement
Cisco has sued Apple over its use of the term iPhone for its newly announced mobile device, despite reports that they were near an agreement with Apple to share the name.
Latest Keyword Triggered Ads and Trademark Ruling
Eric Goldman reports factually on the latest trademark infringement case, ruled on by a court in Eastern Pennsylvania:
Google Trademark vs Blogger
Google cut off Ionut Alex. Chitu’s only current option of making money from his blog, Google Operating System, by disabling his AdSense.