Communications & Media Law › Business Torts › Civil Remedies

Who Owns an Employee’s LinkedIn Account?

LinkedIn is a social media site catering exclusively to professionals with 200 million registered users in 200 countries. For many businesses, marketing via social media is a critical component to success. Employees use...more

What’s That Charge on My Mobile Phone Bill? The FTC Wants to Know

“Cramming” – while it sounds like the experience of being in the middle row of a cross-country flight – actually refers to unauthorized charges on phone bills. Residential and business telecommunications customers have...more

Linkedin Lockout Loss for Employee

Can your employer demand access to your Linkedin account? Can your employer keep access to your account after you terminate employment? Can you sue for damages if your employer denies you access to Linkedin, and your...more

Stopping Competitors From Denigrating Your Product

"Cats prefer Whisker Nibblets to Gato Gourmet 4:1." "Only Marie’s sandwich cookies are made with real chocolate and cream." "Seatur’s Slick works 40 percent faster than other leading motor oils." "Shampoo with Lixertonic and...more

Boarding School Review, LLC v. Delta Career Education Corp.

Reply Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim under FRCP 12(b)(6)

Plaintiff operates a website called Community College Review. It received multiple cease and desist letters, which escalated in the severity of their threats, from counsel for certain institutions about which routine,...more

Amerigas Propane, L.P. v. Opinion Corp. d/b/a PissedConsumer.com

Answer, Affirmative Defenses and Jury Demand

See the affirmative defenses. From BusinessInsider.com: "Propane giant AmeriGas recently sued online complaints forum Pissed Consumer for trademark infringement. "Gas company executives were presumably upset with how...more

Does a Franchisor have an Obligation to Maintain Brand Strength?

Bertico Inc. et al v. Dunkin’ Brands Canada Ltd. (Allied Domecq Retailing International (Canada) Ltd.) In an unprecedented decision released on June 21, 2012, the Quebec Superior Court held that the Dunkin’ Donuts...more

VO Group, LLC v. Opinion Corp. et al.

Decision and Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Motion to Dismiss

Order and opinion on motion to dismiss complaint filed in New York Supreme Court (trial level), Kings County (i.e., Brooklyn), by timeshare sales company seeking to censor criticism of the company found on...more

Alaska Supreme Court Broadens Scope of Unfair Trade Practices Liability for Businesses’ Representations Concerning Their Goods

On March 30, 2012, the Alaska Supreme Court significantly expanded the scope of Alaska’s Unfair Trade Practices Act (“UTPA”) in a manner that will increase the risk of liability for businesses that make representations about...more

In Nutella Advertising Case, Whom Is the System Protecting?

The world is full of surprises, like the fact that Nutella chocolate spread is loaded with saturated fat and sugar and is not itself healthy. Ferrero USA, Inc., the company that makes Nutella, learned the hard way that...more

Advertising Law -- April 27, 2012

In This Issue: Duracell Battery Class Action Lawsuit; Class Action Settlement Seeks To “Stop” GameStop’s Allegedly Deceptive Marketing Practices; Commercial Email with Falsified or Misrepresented Header Information...more

Amerigas Propane, L.P. v. Opinion Corp. d/b/a PissedConsumer.com

Reply Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim under FRCP 12(b)(6)

See the associated moving brief. This is the reply brief preliminary statement: Defendant Opinion Corp. (“defendant” or “Opinion Corp.”) submits this reply memorandum in further support of its motion to dismiss the...more

Amerigas Propane, L.P. v. Opinion Corp. d/b/a PissedConsumer.com

Brief in support of defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted...

Another lawsuit against PissedConsumer.com, another motion to dismiss. The preliminary statement: Defendant Opinion Corp. is, as set forth in the Complaint, the corporate owner of an Internet website called...more

Greenberg Glusker Obtains $2M Verdict Against Regency Outdoor Advertising

Greenberg Glusker today announced that it has secured a two million dollar verdict against Regency Outdoor Advertising on behalf of its clients, West Hollywood nightclub Whisky-A-Go-Go and Ace Outdoor Advertising. Partner Lee...more

Ascentive, LLC v. Opinion Corp.

Opinion and Order Denying Preliminary Injunction

Opinion and order denying the motions by Ascentive, LLC and Classic Brands, LLC for a preliminary injunction censoring consumer complaint about the companies on the PissedConsumer.com website. The companies' legal...more

VO Group, LLC v. Opinion Corp. et al.

Brief in Support of Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim Upon Which Relief Can be Granted (CPLR sec. 3211(a)(7))

Motion to dismiss complaint filed in New York Supreme Court (trial level), Kings County (i.e., Brooklyn), by timeshare sales company seeking to censor criticism of the company found on PissedConsumer.com....more

Proteceting Your Professional Reputation as an Asset

Given the power of the internet and the unmistakable reach and shelf life of a digital complaint to hurt you, it’s more important than ever to both have and defend a professional reputation. Complaints are often...more

Protecting Your Professional Reputation as an Asset

Given the power of the Internet and the unmistakable reach and shelf life of a digital complaint to hurt you, it’s more important than ever to both have and defend a professional reputation. Complaints are often...more

Collision Occurs Between Copyrights and Misappropriation in Electronic News Media Space

Despite winning in court to protect valuable copyrights, Wall Street firms are unable to protect their valuable trading recommendations as federal and state laws collide in Barclays Capital Inc. v. Theflyonthewall.com, Inc.1...more

California Court Dismisses UCL Claim Over Fiji Water

Sometimes a green drop is just a green drop. Last week, the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, dismissed a purported class action against the owners of Fiji Water, finding as a matter of law that the...more

Verizon Wireless Files RICO Suit against Mobile Marketers, Alleges Deception and Fraud in Evasion of MMA Guidelines Requirements...

Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, filed a lengthy complaint on March 7, 2011, against mobile marketing entities that have conducted short code marketing campaigns on its network. The complaint alleges...more

UK Supreme Court: Joseph -v- Spiller, a new defence of honest comment in defamation proceedings

The United Kingdom Supreme Court restates the 'fair comment' defence to defamation claims as 'honest comment', relaxing the requirement to provide readers with all of the facts necessary to allow them to judge themselves...more

Intel Corporation v. Americas News Intel Publishing LLC

Defendant's Reply Brief in Support of its Motion to Dismiss INTEL's Amended Complaint

TechDirt.com: "Chip giant Intel has a bit of a reputation for being a trademark bully at times, threatening or suing many companies just for having 'intel' in their name somewhere -- including a travel agency and a jeans...more

Monster Worldwide, Inc. v. HR Guru.Biz Corporation

Answer, Affirmative Defenses and Counterclaims

HRGuru.BIZ is a personnel recruitment firm which did business under the name HR GURU beginning in 2002, earning common law rights in that trademark. It could not obtain the HRGuru.com domain, however, which was being...more

Software Research Group, Inc. v. WWW.PISSEDCONSUMER.COM

Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant Opinion Corp.'s Motion to Dismiss the Complaint

This was a lawsuit consisting of five different versions of a defamation claim, brought against a website and an unknown number of anonymous defendants. The website, called PissedConsumer.com, was operated by movant, Opinion...more