Keyword advertising raises interesting questions beyond the run-of-the-mill trademark infringement and unfair competition issues typically discussed. For instance, if a sponsored ad can be clicked in three separate countries, can the Courts of each of those countries take jurisdiction to hear and determine a dispute? The Court of Justice of the European Union has given [...]
Archive for the ‘vront’ Category
Jurisdiction in Keyword Advertising Disputes After Wintersteiger
October 1st, 2012 
Gareth Dickson 
Posted in trademarks, UK and Europe, vront 
Tags: ECJ, Europe, Google, Internet, jurisdiction, Publications, trade marks, trademarks, UK 
No Comments »
Appeals Court Sides With Viacom, Dismisses YouTube Summary Judgment Claim
April 5th, 2012 Gareth Dickson The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has just delivered its Opinion in Viacom v. YouTube, and it has held, unanimously, that YouTube is not entitled to summary judgment on Viacom’s $1bn copyright claim. The decision reverses the Southern District of New York’s finding that YouTube didn’t need to go to trial to determine whether it was [...]
Posted in copyright, North America, social media, vront Tags: appeals, copyright, DMCA, Google, Internet, New York, second circuit, US, YouTube No Comments »
Pinterest’s New Terms Expand Indemnity, Ban Commercial Use, Prevent Users Suing Cold Brew Labs
March 25th, 2012 Gareth Dickson On Saturday, March 24, 2012, Pinterest emailed users to say it was updating its Terms of Service. Make no mistake – this is a pretty significant re-write, and kudos to Pinterest for making both sets readily available so we can compare and contrast them. The “proposed” terms come into effect on April 6, 2012 and [...]
Posted in copyright, North America, social media, UK and Europe, vront Tags: copyright, DMCA, Internet, jurisdiction, Pinterest, second circuit 20 Comments » Viacom Counters YouTube’s “1-in-a-billion” Red Flag and “Unlimited Storage” Arguments
November 9th, 2011 Gareth Dickson YouTube does not cite the relevant DMCA language in its latest series of arguments because it has no answer to it, according to the reply letter brief filed yesterday in the Second Circuit by Viacom and The Football Association (et al.). In October, the parties in Viacom’s $1bn copyright lawsuit against YouTube for historic [...]
Posted in copyright, North America, social media, vront Tags: appeals, copyright, DMCA, Google, Internet, New York, second circuit, software, US, YouTube 2 Comments »
UPDATED: Viacom v. YouTube: Second Circuit Asks YouTube To Clarify Its Position On Storage and Red Flags
October 26th, 2011 Gareth Dickson This is pretty big breaking news from New York. After last week’s oral argument in Viacom v. YouTube (2d. Cir. 10-3270), the Second Circuit has reportedly asked YouTube two questions regardings its affirmative defense under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(1) (the DMCA) to Viacom’s copyright infringement claims. According to Twitter GC @amac, from whom I got [...]
Posted in copyright, North America, social media, vront Tags: appeals, copyright, DMCA, Google, Internet, New York, second circuit, US, YouTube 1 Comment » Viacom v. YouTube Appeal: “Endless whack-a-mole”, “just plain crazy” and “red herrings”
October 18th, 2011 Gareth Dickson The DMCA should allow businesses to ignore their own conclusions about the extent of copyright infringement on their systems until a copyright owner notifies it of individual, specifically identifiable materials on the site, according to YouTube at today’s summary judgment oral arguments at the Second Circuit in Viacom v. YouTube. In other words, service providers [...]
Posted in copyright, North America, social media, vront Tags: AdSense, copyright, DMCA, Google, Internet, New York, second circuit, US, YouTube 1 Comment »
Help Us, Copyright; You’re Our Only Hope!
September 15th, 2011 Gareth Dickson As any celebrity – and certain governments and law firms – will tell you, there are risks as well as benefits in being connected to publicly accessible networks. Individuals and collectives such as Wikileaks, Anonymous and LulzSec have embarrassed the US government, the law firm ACS:Law, and now Scarlett Johannson and Jessica Alba by exposing [...]
Posted in copyright, North America, privacy, social media, UK and Europe, vront Tags: copyright, data protection, DMCA, Internet, jurisdiction, photographs, privacy No Comments »
Google Increases Ad Prominence For Sellers Using Third Party Trademarks
September 6th, 2011 Gareth Dickson Brand owners are likely to be unimpressed by Google’s latest update to its AdWords program, which gives purchasers of third party trademarks increased prominence for their ads. The change, which is already in operation, means “organic” search results will be pushed further out of view by sponsored ads, whose format now looks like some categories [...]
Posted in North America, social media, trademarks, vront Tags: AdWords, Google, Internet, trade marks, trademarks No Comments »
New York Becomes Latest Court To Rule Against Use of Trademarks in AdWords
August 27th, 2011 Gareth Dickson A District Court in New York has become the latest to find that using a competitor’s trademark in Google’s AdWords program can be trademark infringement. District Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf found that the Defendants’ selection of “PILLOW PETS” and similar marks as a trigger for Google Ads is likely an infringement of the Plaintiff’s registered trademarks [...]
Posted in North America, social media, trademarks, vront Tags: AdWords, copyright, false advertising, Google, Internet, New York, second circuit, trade marks, trademarks, US No Comments »
Judge-Led Charge Against American Fashion Designers Continues
August 11th, 2011 Gareth Dickson Fashion designers, as a class, should gain only limited IP protection, according to Judge Victor Marrero of the Southern District of New York. Giving judgment in Christian Louboutin SA et al v. Yves Saint Laurent America, Inc et al., 1:11-cv-2381 (NYSD August 10, 2011), Judge Marrero acknowledged that the world famous Louboutin house has acquired [...]
Posted in North America, trademarks, vront Tags: copyright, New York, second circuit, trade marks, trademarks, US No Comments »
