Each month, I compile Search Month — a recap of all the stories that have happened relating to search, categorized by topic. I thought it would be fun to take all the Search Months over the past year and produce this edition of Search Year 2007. It was far more work than I imagined, but […]
Lawsuit Over Google’s Chinese Name Dismissed from Pacific Epoch reports a Chinese court has dismissed the Guge and Google case, which began earlier this month. The Haidian People’s Court in Beijing dismissed the case today. It was dismissed because Google used “Gu Ge” on April 12, 2006, which was seven days before Beijing Gu Ge […]
Chinese Company Takes Google to Court from the AP reports the case between Guge and Google has begun this week. Beijing’s Guge Sci-Tech Co. took Google China to court for infringement over their name. Guge Sci-Tech Co. registered the name on April 19, 2006 with Beijing Municipal Industrial and Commercial Bureau. Google China didn’t register […]
Eric Goldman reports Judge John McBride has denied Google’s motion to dismiss the American Airlines search ad trademark suit. The court document does not explain why the judge denied Google’s motion. All it says is that he dismissed the motion. Eric Goldman feels that taking this case to court will be a lot of wasted […]
Google seeks dismissal of American Airlines suit from Dallas Business Journal reports that Google has filed a motion to dismiss the American Airlines vs. Google trademark case. In that case, American Airlines sued Google for allowing advertisers to bid on their trademark names. Gary Price located the motion to dismiss document (PDF format). Google argues […]
One of the oldest outstanding trademark-infringement lawsuits filed against Google over search ads — that by American Blinds & Wallpaper — has been settled in what I’d agree with legal analyst Eric Goldman in calling a stunning victory for Google. Google has to pay nothing and change nothing to see the case disappear. Eric has […]
Over the years, we’ve seen a number of lawsuits filed against search engines or between companies regarding ads that are linked to trademark terms. Below, a rundown on some of the more notable cases. Before the recap, a little background. To those not familiar with trademark law, the cases can seem like guaranteed victories for […]
Eric Goldman reports that American Airlines is suing Google over trademark infringement in AdWords. As Eric points out, this type of lawsuit is nothing new to Google. Many companies have taken Google to court for allowing advertisers to bid on their trademarked names. However, in this case, American Airlines, the two words, are extremely generic […]
Brand Owners on Web Offensive from Red Herring reports that Yahoo, Dell, Coca Cola, Hilton and others have joined together to fight cybersquatting. The companies formed a collation against cybersquatters named Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse. Cybersquatters purchase domain names that are similar to trademark names, such as yahooemail.com and hilt0n.com. Some use that traffic […]
Cheeky China company says to sue Google over name from Reuters reports Beijing Guge, a Chinese company, is suing Google over their name. Beijing Guge wants Google to change their corporate name to something else. Beijing Guge says that they get tons of phone calls with people confusing Guge for Google. They said people are […]
Eric Goldman reports that Google has received a subpoena to turn over AdWords keyword purchase data that a company hopes will help it in a trademark case. Google plans to comply unless companies that bought the words “sports court” among others object to it formally.
Google Sued in Domainer Lawsuit–Vulcan Golf v. Google from Eric Goldman covers a new lawsuit in which Google is being sued for allegedly violating trademarks by helping domainers monetize “typosquatter” domains.
Google loses Gmail trademark case in Germany from News.com reports that Google has lost the Gmail trademark case in a German appellate court. Google will not be allowed to use Gmail in Germany, like they can’t in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Google Threatens to Close German Gmail Due to Local Law from Google Blogoscoped […]
Judge won’t dismiss Google trademark suit from Reuters reports that the long-standing lawsuit over keywords linked to trademarked terms filed by American Blinds against Google will continue to trial. Google’s request for summary judgment has been denied. Google’s won in two similar suits within the US. Courtesy of Gary Price, you can get a copy […]
Wow. Via Techdirt, news from the EFF that the Utah legislature has passed a Trademark Protection Act law preventing people from buying ads linked to terms that are also trademarks of others. The Trademark Blog notes the law probably violates the US Constitution. Certainly it will be hard to enforce. In addition, we’ve got US […]
Consumer watchdog Public Citizen has filed a friend of the court brief on behalf of Michael Morgan, a Florida realtor sued by homebuilder Lennar for using its corporate name in the URL of a web site critical of Lennar, and for buying sponsored search ads using the trademarked name to promote the site. According to […]
Google sues Polish poets over gmail.pl via the AFP reports that Google is now going after a group of Polish poets for the domain name gmail.pl. Gmail.pl is the domain name for “Grupa Młodych Artystów i Literatów” (GMAiL), but Google claims they poets have no rights to the name. Krawczyk from the Polish poets says […]
One more on the entire National Pork Board going up against search marketer and breastfeeding activist Jennifer Laycock. Jennifer has now received two letters of apology, plus the National Pork Board is backing a fundraising campaign for the Mother’s Milk Bank Of Ohio. Good move, National Pork Board! In addition, you can now purchase newly […]
An Update on the "Pigsteria" and the Mother’s Milk Bank Fundraiser from Jennifer Laycock covers that the National Pork Board has now apologized to her over the legal threat about her using "The Other White Milk" as a slogan on shirts supporting breastfeeding. Great to hear! Background from us in National Pork Board Goes After […]
Jennifer Laycock’s battle against the National Pork Board over her "The Other White Milk" slogan for breastfeeding t-shirts continues to pick up support. as you can see here at Techmeme. After I did my own write-up about the case yesterday, I followed my own advice and emailed the board. I just got their lame response:
Last year, well-known search marketer Jennifer Laycock set up the Lactivist project, where she explained step-by-step how to market a new web site on a budget. Part of the project were the funny shirts she sold to promote breastfeeding, including one called "The Other White Milk." Turns out the National Pork Board thinks that violates […]
I saw Should Google Give Brand Owners A Cut? from InsideGoogle earlier, about the idea of Google paying brand owners a share of revenues of those advertising on their names. Then a reader just emailed me asking what I think about the idea. OK, I’ll bite. In short — probably not. More on that below, […]
Steve Bryant reports that the case against Yahoo, brought by JP Enterprises for trademark infringement on the terms lovecity and lovecity.com have been dismissed with prejudice. Back in mid-June, the case was first filed against Yahoo and other companies for bidding on the brand name. Yahoo’s nor JP Enterprises’ attorneys responded to any comments about […]