(assignment developed by Stefania Gismondi)
For background
information on trademarks, read pages 3-6 of A
Trademark is Not
a Copyright or a Patent.
For current law on trademark infringement, read these relevant sections of the trademark statute (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq):
15 U.S.C. 1125 (Section 1125(d) is referred to as the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.)
Next, read these two cases from the Fourth Circuit, where the court applies the statute's provisions to claims involving domain names that allegedly infringe trademarks: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals v. Doughney, 263 F.3d 359 (4th Cir. 2001), and Lamparello v. Falwell, 420 F.3d 309 (4th Cir. 2005). Compare the different results.
Other forms of trademark infringement online do not involve the use of trademarks in domain names. For example, here is a case from the Second Circuit addressing the issue of whether pop-up ads are considered trademark infringement. 1-800 Contacts, Inc. v. WhenU.com, 414 F.3d 400 (2d Cir. 2005).
Search engines have also been accused of trademark infringement. The courts are split on the issue of whether trademark keywords constitute trademark infringement. Here are two cases involving Google. First, read this case from a district court in the Fourth Circuit: Government Employees Insurance Company v. Google, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18642 (E.D. Va. Aug. 8, 2005), and this commentary.
Now, compare that case to a district court holding in the Second Circuit: Rescuecom v. Google, 456 F.Supp.2d 393 (N.D.N.Y. 2006).
Lastly, another related issue that courts have responded to differently is the use of trademarks in meta tags. Read this case to learn how one court responds. North American Medical Corp. v. Axiom Worldwide, Inc., 522 F.3d 1211 (11th Cir. 2008).