"I do not accept that the use of any of CTI’s Registered Trade Marks in Green Energy’s metatags would constitute a trade mark infringement for the purposes of s 120(1). Metatags are invisible to the ordinary internet user, although their use will direct the user to (amongst other websites) Green Energy’s website. Once at the Green Energy website, then, in the ordinary course, the internet user will be made aware that the website is concerned with Green Energy’s services. It cannot, therefore, be said that the use in a metatag of CTI’s Registered Trade Marks is a use that indicates the origin of Green Energy’s services. Thus, metatag use is not use as a trade mark"
Complete Technology Integrations Pty Ltd v Green Energy Management Solutions Pty Ltd [2011] FCA 1319 (18 November 2011)
Samsung Overturns Apple Injunction in Australia
Samsung was successfully in having an interlocutory injunction overturned today in the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia. See decision: Samsung Electronics v. Apple Inc. [2011] FCAFC 156 (30 November 2011).
The case concerned two Australian patents owned by Apple. Apple asserted that the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tablet infringed claims of those two patents. An injunction was granted by the trial judge to prevent Samsung launching the Galaxy 10.1 in Australia until trial. Today, Samsung was successful in having that injunction removed.
As soon as the appeal court decision was announced today, Apple asked for the decision to be suspended so that it could appeal to the High Court of Australia. Apple asked this without even reading the Court's decision. The judge today suspended the decision until 4pm Friday, in effect keeping the injunction in place until Friday. Apple now has until 4pm Friday to convince the High Court of Australia to keep the injunction in place -- a hard task.
The case concerned two Australian patents owned by Apple. Apple asserted that the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tablet infringed claims of those two patents. An injunction was granted by the trial judge to prevent Samsung launching the Galaxy 10.1 in Australia until trial. Today, Samsung was successful in having that injunction removed.
As soon as the appeal court decision was announced today, Apple asked for the decision to be suspended so that it could appeal to the High Court of Australia. Apple asked this without even reading the Court's decision. The judge today suspended the decision until 4pm Friday, in effect keeping the injunction in place until Friday. Apple now has until 4pm Friday to convince the High Court of Australia to keep the injunction in place -- a hard task.
Law Schools That Teach Little About Legal Practice
From the NY Times:
Law Schools That Teach Little About Legal Practice By DAVID SEGAL
Law schools have long emphasized the theoretical over the useful, leaving law firms fairly resigned to training their hires how to actually practice law.
Speedo Shuts Down Blogger and Gets Domain Name
A NSW man has been ordered to shut down several pornographic websites featuring Speedo swimwear and using the company's trademark. Speedo Holdings took Central Coast blogger Dave Evans to court claiming he had used the trademark under aliases and without the company's consent. The company claimed the websites and the use of the company's trademark as part of his domain names could damage the "valuable reputation and goodwill associated with the name and trade mark Speedo". In the Federal Court of Australia on Thursday, Justice Geoffrey Flick ordered Evans to stop operating and registering any domain name containing the name Speedo. He was also restrained from operating websites featuring any sign of the Speedo trademark. Evans, who didn't appear in court, was ordered to transfer the domain names to Speedo within 21 days.
Amazon Running Sweatshop
Amazon's online store has great prices and service, and is efficient for consumers. But someone has to pick and pack the goods ordered online. Amazon has a number of distribution centres to do this. And according to U.S. newspaper reports, Amazon is running these distribution centres as sweatshops. This is the downside of cheap prices and Internet stores.
See for example: Inside Amazon's Warehouse.
Just Google "Amazon Sweatshop Pennsylvania" and you will find numerous articles about this situation.
Free books from Amazon
"Free books, including New York Times bestsellers, for the Kindle. If you’re an Amazon Prime member.
Free shipping, free movies, free books, for $80 a year. What, exactly, is Amazon up to?
There has to be some master plan, because Amazon is spending itself silly to pull this off. Because the offer is limited to owners of Kindles — it doesn’t work if you use the Kindle service on an iPad, for instance — it is intended to sell more Kindles."
Google Changes Search Algorithm to Make Results More Timely
"Acknowledging that some searches were giving people stale results,
The new algorithm is a recognition that Google, whose dominance depends on providing the most useful results, is being increasingly challenged by services like
It is also a reflection of how people use the Web as a real-time news feed — that if, for example, you search for a baseball score, you probably want to find the score of a game being played at the moment, not last week, which is what Google often gave you."
Full story in NY Times.
Hyperlinking to articles not publication for defamation
An interesting case concerning defamation on the Internet: see the Supreme Court of Canada decision, Crookes v Newton, 2011 SCC 47.
The defendant operated a website offering commentary on various issues. An comment included hyperlinks to two other pages, both of which contained articles that the defendant conceded were defamatory.
One hyperlink was "shallow," in that it referred to a web page on which the defamatory article was one of several articles posted there.
Another was "deep," in that clicking on the link led a viewer directly to the article.
For different reasons, all judges decided that this hyperlinking was not a "publication" for Canadian defamation law.
Inteflora case - bidding on trademarks as Google keywords
The Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") has delivered its ruling in the long-running Interflora v Marks & Spencer Adwords case. The CJEU decided that trade mark owners can prohibit the purchase of their trade marks as keywords on web search engines, but cannot do so if the advertisements triggered do not allow users to ascertain the origin of the goods or services referred to in such advertisements.
See Bloomberg and Search Engine Watch
Australian Google AdWords Decision - Google Wins
After an 17 month wait, Justice John Nicholas of the Federal Court of Australia decided today that the ACCC did not make out their claims against Google in the case involving sponsored links and Adwords.
The key findings were that:
The court's reasons for decision are published at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FCA/2011/1086.html
The key findings were that:
- ordinary and reasonable members of the relevant class of consumers are likely to understand that sponsored links are advertisements; and
- Google merely communicated the representations made by advertisers, without adopting or endorsing any of those representations
The court's reasons for decision are published at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FCA/2011/1086.html
Patent Case - non-patentable subject matter
Cybersource v Retail Decisions was decided on 16 August 2011. It decided that a certain Internet process was not patentable subject matter.
CyberSource is the owner by assignment of a patent, which recites a “method and system for detecting fraud in a credit card transaction between [a] consumer and a merchant over the Internet.” Claim 3 of the patent recites a process for verifying the validity of credit card transactions over the Internet.
"We are not persuaded by the appellant’s argument that the claimed method is tied to a particular machine because it “would not be necessary or possible without the Internet.” Appellant’s Br. 42. Regardless of whether “the Internet” can be viewed as a machine, it is clear that the Internet cannot perform the fraud detection steps of the claimed method. Moreover, while claim 3 describes a method of analyzing data regarding Internet credit card transactions, nothing in claim 3 requires an infringer to use the Internet to obtain that data (as opposed to obtain- ing the data from a pre-compiled database). The Internet is merely described as the source of the data. We have held that mere “[data-gathering] step[s] cannot make an otherwise nonstatutory claim statutory.”
CyberSource is the owner by assignment of a patent, which recites a “method and system for detecting fraud in a credit card transaction between [a] consumer and a merchant over the Internet.” Claim 3 of the patent recites a process for verifying the validity of credit card transactions over the Internet.
"We are not persuaded by the appellant’s argument that the claimed method is tied to a particular machine because it “would not be necessary or possible without the Internet.” Appellant’s Br. 42. Regardless of whether “the Internet” can be viewed as a machine, it is clear that the Internet cannot perform the fraud detection steps of the claimed method. Moreover, while claim 3 describes a method of analyzing data regarding Internet credit card transactions, nothing in claim 3 requires an infringer to use the Internet to obtain that data (as opposed to obtain- ing the data from a pre-compiled database). The Internet is merely described as the source of the data. We have held that mere “[data-gathering] step[s] cannot make an otherwise nonstatutory claim statutory.”
My Blog is Paying My Bills
Further to the class last night, have a look at:
My Blog is Paying My Bills in the NY Times.
Don't forget to click on the Google Ads here ---->
Last Class!
Next Monday is the last class for this semester.
The reading for this class is the following:
Google - Oracle patent lawsuit and here
Free Speech on Twitter
From the NYTimes:
SAN FRANCISCO — What began as seamy gossip about an affair between a famous British soccer player and a reality TV star has quickly become another test over how far the rights to privacy and free speech extend online, where social media operate in countries with vastly different laws.
The soccer player has been granted a so-called super-injunction, a stringent and controversial British legal measure that prevents media outlets from identifying him, reporting on the story or even from revealing the existence of the court order itself.
But tens of thousands of Internet users have flouted the injunction by revealing his name on Twitter, Facebook and online soccer forums, sites that blur the definition of the press and are virtually impossible to police.
Last week, amid growing outrage in Britain over the use of super-injunctions, the athlete obtained a court order in British High Court demanding that Twitter reveal the identities of the anonymous users who had posted the messages. A Twitter spokesman, Matt Graves, said the company could not comment on the court order or how it planned to respond.
Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University, said, “It’s really going to the core of Twitter’s service and trying to balance the speech of its users and the fact that countries have different laws and norms about speech.”
Online contracting, creation of websites
e-commerce
What impact does the Electronic Transactions Act have on e-commerce / online contracting?
In this area you should also look at:
the Queensland legislation
UNCITRAL Model
UN Convention
Standard forms of agreement
Website terms of use - look at a few examples including Great South East; Microsoft. What are the common clauses? Anything strange? What impact does Unfair Contracts legislation have on these contracts?
Click wrap v Shrink wrap - what are the differences?
Case summaries
Setting up a website
What should you be aware of (having regarding to previous lectures)?
What impact does the Electronic Transactions Act have on e-commerce / online contracting?
In this area you should also look at:
the Queensland legislation
UNCITRAL Model
UN Convention
Standard forms of agreement
Website terms of use - look at a few examples including Great South East; Microsoft. What are the common clauses? Anything strange? What impact does Unfair Contracts legislation have on these contracts?
Click wrap v Shrink wrap - what are the differences?
Case summaries
Setting up a website
What should you be aware of (having regarding to previous lectures)?
Rogue Websites
On May 12, 2011, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sponsored S. 968, the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PROTECT IP Act), a bill to deter, prevent and root out websites that profit from trafficking in stolen content.
See also FightOnlineTheft
Week 10 - Copyright
Legislation
International treaties - Berne Convention
The law in Australia - Copyright Act, and amendments related to the internet - Computer Programs Act 1999, Digital Agenda Act 2000, US Free Trade 2004
Australian Cases - piracy and copyright
Kazaa
MP3s4free
Stevens v Sony
Newspaper headlines
iiNet
US Cases
Napster
Grokster
Limewire
YouTube
UK
Newzbin
Policy Issues
Balancing interests of copyright owner and users - Electronic Frontiers Australia
Licensing through Creative Commons
International treaties - Berne Convention
The law in Australia - Copyright Act, and amendments related to the internet - Computer Programs Act 1999, Digital Agenda Act 2000, US Free Trade 2004
Australian Cases - piracy and copyright
Kazaa
MP3s4free
Stevens v Sony
Newspaper headlines
iiNet
US Cases
Napster
Grokster
Limewire
YouTube
UK
Newzbin
Policy Issues
Balancing interests of copyright owner and users - Electronic Frontiers Australia
Licensing through Creative Commons
End of Voluntary Internet Filtering Program in Australia
See The Australian
THE Gillard government will scrap its voluntary internet filtering grants program to save $9.6 million over three years.
A combination of reasons led to the decision, including moves by Telstra, Optus and Primus to voluntarily block child abuse websites.
"Consultation with industry has identified limited interest in the grants due to the increasing range of filtering technologies readily available to online users, including browser and search engine filters," the government says in the 2011-12 budget papers.
"Savings from this measure will be redirected to support other government priorities."
Labor intends to introduce mandatory ISP internet filtering -- a policy championed by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy -- once a government review is completed.
Treasurer Wayne Swan's fourth budget today is aimed at delivering $22 billion in savings to meet the government's surplus target in 2012-13.
Google News - Copyright Violation in Belgium
The Belgian Court of Appeal has ruled that Google has infringed the copyright of Belgian newspapers, by placing links and portions of articles on Google News. Read more here
Competition Law Issues
Michael Laufert, working with the ABA Communication and Digital Technologies Industries Committee, has put together a website devoted to antitrust and collaboration issues facing tech industries. Common topics are patent pooling, standard setting and the like. His site, "Collaboration and Competition in Technology," is available at the link below or through CDTI's page on the Section's website:
http://apps.americanbar.org/dch/comadd.cfm?com=AT328100&pg=1
Data theft
Sony - Details of more than 100m users stolen; Sony faces US congressional hearing; Claims file "Anonymous" left on server.
Week 9 - Domain Name Disputes and Cybersquatting
What is cybersquatting?
Dispute resolution
What are the 3 elements of a UDRP proceeding?
Is the auDRP identical?
UDRP process
Read the case ofsimplybusiness.com and jappy.com (in relation to element 3) - which view do you agree with?
Read the cases ofsermosucks.com and natwestbanksucks.com (in relation to criticism sites) - which view do you agree with?
Discussion
For this lecture, everyone should be prepared to discuss one case with the rest of the class - search here, or for interesting issues and WIPO's preferred views, here
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the UDRP/auDRP process?
Dispute resolution
What are the 3 elements of a UDRP proceeding?
Is the auDRP identical?
UDRP process
Read the case of
Read the cases of
Discussion
For this lecture, everyone should be prepared to discuss one case with the rest of the class - search here, or for interesting issues and WIPO's preferred views, here
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the UDRP/auDRP process?
Get Your Data Back
Here is a guiding principle: If a business collects data on consumers electronically, it should provide them with a version of that data that is easy to download and export to another Web site. Think of it this way: you have lent the company your data, and you’d like a copy for your own use.
See full story
Location Tracking
Google said Friday that it collected location data from Android phones, but that it did so anonymously and with user consent. The company said it gathered the data to provide services like maps and searches for shops or restaurants near a person’s location. The company said it also used the information to estimate traffic on various roads.
“Phones know where you are, and they need to for many of the services we offer,” said Mike Nelson, a Google spokesman.
Mobile Google
Google said in October that mobile ads were on track to generate $1 billion in revenue in the coming year. Mobile users can call a business from within a Google ad or receive coupons for nearby stores. They can take cellphone photos of movie posters to pull up a trailer. With new technologies like near-field communication, advertisers could reward customers with loyalty gifts for walking into stores, Mr. Temsamani said.
Poker Play
"IN ANOTHER era, Daniel Tzvetkoff would have been whacked - shot or garroted, buried in a shallow grave or sent to sleep with the fishes. The world's two biggest online gambling companies, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, which want the $US100 million they believe the former Gold Coast high-flyer took from them, don't work that way.
They send their lawyers. Or they just wait. But Tzvetkoff, incredibly, has used his position from inside a US jail to, first, free himself, and then go on the offensive against the very people who are chasing him.
The Queensland internet entrepreneur, 28, was mysteriously bailed from a US federal prison last August. He has rolled to save his neck.
US federal prosecutors are using Tzvetkoff's unique inside knowledge of how big online gambling companies shift money out of the US in exchange for a sweet deal."
See Courier Mail front page story
"ASSOCIATES of former internet high-flyer Daniel Tzvetkoff have been charged after a flurry of arrests in the US over illegal online gaming following his release last year from a New York prison.
US judges have sealed the files on Mr Tzvetkoff's criminal case, after he was secretly released from prison -- without a bail hearing -- on charges he was involved in a $500 million money-laundering scheme for illegal online poker sites.
Secrecy now surrounds the former Gold Coast-based entrepreneur's movements, with prosecutors refusing to disclose if they are going ahead with the charges that carry a 24-year jail term."
The owners of three of the largest Internet poker companies operating in the United States were accused Friday of tricking regulators and banks into processing billions of dollars of illegal Internet gambling proceeds.Eleven people including the owners of Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and PokerStars were charged with violating anti-Internet gambling laws, according to charges filed by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.Prosecutors also filed a civil money laundering complaint seeking to recover at least $3 billion from the companies, which are all based overseas, court documents said.In addition, according to the government statement, restraining orders were issued against more than 75 bank accounts used by the poker companies and their payment processors. And the Internet domain names of the companies were also seized.NY TimesSocial Media Alarm Bells
See The Age
In an age in which one negative online review can destroy brands, social media has become one of the top risks keeping C-level executives up at night, a survey of 446 major Australian corporations and public sector organisations has found.
Hilton Hacked
From an email from Hilton Hotels:
Dear Customer:
We were notified by our database marketing vendor, Epsilon, that we are among a group of companies affected by a data breach. How will this affect you? The company was advised by Epsilon that the files accessed did not include any customer financial information, and Epsilon has stressed that the only information accessed was names and e-mail addresses. The most likely impact, if any, would be receipt of unwanted e-mails. We are not aware at this time of any unsolicited e-mails (spam) that are related, but as a precaution, we want to remind you of a couple of tips that should always be followed:
• Do not open e-mails from senders you do not know
• Do not share personal information via e-mail
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