Interesting People mailing list archives
Re: Using keyword advertising to promote a gripe site
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:36:36 -0500
Begin forwarded message: From: "W.B. McNamara" <whitney () absono us> Date: February 21, 2007 3:45:30 PM EST To: David Farber <dave () farber net> Subject: Re: [IP] Using keyword advertising to promote a gripe site Dave - A related decision was handed down earlier this year: in J.G Wentworth SSC Ltd v. Settlement Funding LLC, the courts found that buying a keyword for targeting purposes did not constitute trademark infringement. The court held that: "Even accepting plaintiff’s allegations as true -- i.e., assuming that defendant did in fact use plaintiff’s marks through Google's AdWords program or in the keyword meta tags for its website -- as a matter of law defendant's actions do not result in any actionable likelihood of confusion under the Lanham Act." It's important to note, however, that in the case above the trademark was used exclusively for targeting -- it didn't appear anywhere in the ad that appeared as a result of that targeting. The Lennar case is interesting because it's hitting two online trademark hot-buttons: using trademarked terms as search ad targeting criteria, and an interesting variation on the "sucks" sites issue, whether it's trademark infringement to maintain a Web presence promoting the idea that [trademarked term] sucks, whether commercial or not. Link to info on Wentworth: http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2007/01/keyword_ads_and.htm - Whit -- W.B. McNamara whitney () absono us http://absono.us On Wed, 21 Feb 2007, David Farber wrote:
Begin forwarded message: From: Paul Levy <PLEVY () citizen org> Date: February 21, 2007 3:48:30 PM EST To: dave () farber net Subject: Using keyword advertising to promote a gripe site I wanted to alert you to a case that delves into a new area of First Amendment rights on the Internet and in which Public Citizen today filed an amicus brief. The case involves trademark infringement claims related to keyword advertising purchases and domain names. Although Public Citizen has litigated several cases involving trademark claims against domain names of Internet ?gripe sites,? this is the first case in which Public Citizen has been involved dealing with the trademark ramifications of noncommercial, keyword ad purchases ? a relatively new area of litigation ? that are protected in most cases by the First Amendment. The case involves national developer Lennar Corporation, based in Miami, which sued a Florida realtor for trademark infringement for his online criticisms of the company. Michael Charles Morgan was a broker for several customers who were unhappy about alleged defects in Lennar-built homes. After Morgan?s complaints to the company did not receive satisfactory responses, he created two noncommercial Web sites that included criticism and media reports about Lennar and more general consumer information. Morgan registered the domain names www.defectivehomes.us and www.lennar-homes.info. Morgan also purchased keyword advertising to be displayed when a search engine user conducts searches for Lennar. An example included: Lennar Homes - Warning Defective Homes - Code Violations Detailed Home Inspections Required www.DefectiveHomes.us Although Morgan?s sites and ads were clearly noncommercial and intended to warn consumers about problems with Lennar Homes, the corporation sued for trademark infringement. Public Citizen has a record of defending the First Amendment right of Internet users, particularly the rights of gripe site operators to use domain names that include the names of companies or products they are criticizing. To read the amicus brief in this case, visit http://www.citizen.org/ documents/lennaramicus.pdf. To get more information about Public Citizen?s work involving First Amendment rights on the Internet, visit http://www.citizen.org/ litigation/briefs/IntFreeSpch/. Paul Alan Levy Public Citizen Litigation Group 1600 - 20th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009 (202) 588-1000 http://www.citizen.org/litigation ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/@now Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
-- W.B. McNamara whitney () absono us 646-NEptune7-7791 http://absono.us ------------------------------------------- Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/@now Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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- Using keyword advertising to promote a gripe site David Farber (Feb 21)
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- Re: Using keyword advertising to promote a gripe site David Farber (Feb 21)