-
-
EBay scores victory in Internet trademark case
EBay Inc scored a major legal victory on Monday, when a federal judge ruled that Tiffany & Co failed to prove the online auctioneer was responsible for the sale of fake Tiffany jewelry on its website.
The ruling in the 2004 lawsuit brought by Tiffany in U.S. District Court in New York could play a key role in deciding the ground rules for doing business over the Web and further refines trademark and copyright protections in cyberspace.
Tiffany alleged that eBay turned a blind eye to the sale of fake Tiffany silver jewelry on its site. EBay said the high-end jeweler chose not to participate in eBay programs that help brand owners prevent fraud.
"The Court concludes that Tiffany has failed to meet its burden in proving its claims," wrote U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in his opinion.
"Given Tiffany's choice to sue eBay, rather than individual sellers, and this Court's conclusion that eBay does not continue to supply its services to those whom it knows or has reason to know are infringing Tiffany's trademarks, Tiffany's claims against eBay must fail," wrote the court.
Ebay, which has been trying to increase trust between buyers and sellers in its main auction business, has increased spending on technology and people to stem the sale of fake goods on its site.
San Jose, California-based eBay says it takes down more than 90 percent of fraudulent goods on its site within four hours of their posting.
Shares of eBay were down 2.2 percent to $27.39 on Nasdaq. EBay Inc scored a major legal victory on Monday, when a federal judge ruled that Tiffany & Co failed to prove the online auctionee... more -
Is A Competitor Devaluing Your Keywords?
Is a competitor jetting off with profits from stealing your keywords on their web site?
-
Facebook's Scrabulous challenged on copyright issues
Better hurry up and finish your game. Scrabulous might be on it's way out because of copyright issues. Hasbro and Mattel are calling for the application to be removed because they claim it is an infringement of their intellectual property and the Scrabble trademark.
Dang... and I really liked that one! Better hurry up and finish your game. Scrabulous might be on it's way out because of copyright issues. Hasbro and Mattel are call... more -
T-Mobile Trademarks the Color Magenta
Amazing. Since their trademark is in "the tele-communications sector you just can?t use the color magenta around anything to do with phones, digital media? oh and just about anything on the internet." Amazing. Since their trademark is in "the tele-communications sector you just can?t use the color magenta around anything to do w... more
-
File-Sharing Students Fight Copyright Constraints
It's good to see today's youth (which I hope still includes my 26 year old self) taking a stand and being more proactive, as opposed to just sitting around complaining (like i do on my blog!). but at the same time i feel their youthful exuberance betrays them...copyright and other intellectual property laws, while currently flawed and in need of an update to properly take into account modern technology, serves very important purposes. in fact, the entire premise behind IP law is to provide an incentive to create by giving the creators certain rights in their work.
free music, books, art, and so on would be nice...but it's also just not very practical. a balance is necessary and in the end, quality products (ranging from music to pharmaceuticals) must come at fair and reasonable prices. it's getting to this balance that is difficult. It's good to see today's youth (which I hope still includes my 26 year old self) taking a stand and being more proactive, as... more -
Google Ad Trademark Suit Dismissed
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A home decor merchant has dropped a federal lawsuit attacking Google Inc.'s practice of connecting some online ads to trademarks, handing the Internet search leader its latest legal victory on the prickly issue.
American Blind & Wallpaper Factory Inc. agreed to abandon the nearly 4-year-old case without receiving any payment from Google, according to a settlement dated Aug. 31. The truce also stipulated that Google won't change its long-standing policy that let advertisers place ads tied a rival's trademark. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A home decor merchant has dropped a federal lawsuit attacking Google Inc.'s practice of connecting some onl... more
-
related topics
Trademark
Contributors (20)
Trademark
