WebProNews

Twitter Applying To Have 'Tweet' Trademarked

Twitter is attempting to gain some kind of control of the use of "Twitter" and "Tweet" in a way that reminds me of Google’s attempt back in 2006.

EFF Posts Gripe Site Legal Guide

Because copyright and trademark lawyers have had such itchy trigger fingers when it comes to issuing DMCA takedown notices, there’s a lot of confusion out there what exactly constitutes infringement, and what webmasters can and can’t do with intellectual property. Part of the problem is that websites hosting other people’s content—YouTube, Blogger, eBay, etc.—remove the content at the slightest whiff of a DMCA notice to avoid trouble. This leads, of course, to abuse and to targets without any great recourse.

Trademark Owners Up In Arms With Google's New Policy

 The online world is noisy enough as it is. Everyone is trying to get everyone’s attention to sell whatever it is they have.

Google To Expand Trademark Bidding Worldwide

This June, Google will expand advertiser’s ability to bid on trademarked keywords worldwide in over 200 countries despite a class action lawsuit filed in Texas. The plan to do so illustrates Google’s confidence that trademark bidding is not a violation of trademark laws—apparently anywhere.

Company Loses Competitor Keywords In Metatags Dispute

In a reversal of what is generally considered the real world and what is virtual, metatags suddenly matter in a court of law, even if they haven’t mattered online for some time now. For one defendant, they matter as much as just under a half-million dollars matters. Dropping keywords into the metatags of a website is an old school SEO technique. And by old school I mean pre-googlistoric. Stuffing metatags in the age of Google, which ignores them, is about as useful as peacock feathers on an armadillo.

Bidding On Trademark Terms Okayed By Court

Another court has decided use of trademarked terms in metatags and keyword advertising does not constitute trademark infringement, but the issue is far from settled and only gets more complicated as more courts hear arguments from both sides.

The Battle For "SEO Trademark" Wages On

Just when you thought it was over: May 19 was the deadline for the man who would be SEO trademark holder to respond to notices of opposition to his trademark application (which were filed by SEOmoz, Arteworks, Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning, SEO.com, Jonathan Hochman, and Rhea Drysdale). Sarah Bird, Esq., of SEOmoz filed for default judgment in the case on Tuesday.

Court's Ruling On Trademarked Keyword

It appears that US courts are getting more and more savvy about Internet marketing (or US attorneys are getting more and more savvy about their “expert” witnesses in these cases!).

The SEO Trademark Drama

Earlier this month we informed our readers that a guy named Jason Gambert had been running around in the Trademark Office trying to get the term Search Engine Optimization (SEO) trademarked. Well his wish just ran into a brick wall and now things have gotten really nasty.

Court: Who Cares About Keyword Metatags?

Trademark lawyers have repeatedly tried to make the case that dropping a competitor's trademarked terms in website metatags are a violation of trademark law. A new court decision, though, says otherwise.The argument has rested on traditional tenets like potential for confusion, trademark dilution, use in commerce, and even product-switching. A new court decision, though, doesn't let those arguments go forward until the plaintiff can prove keyword metatags count for anything at all.