Intellectual Property Law in Cyberspace Second Edition CHAPTER 7 UNIQUE ONLINE TRADEMARK ISSUES Howard S. Hogan Stephen W. Feingold Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton Washington, D.C. New York, NY CHAPTER 8 DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION, MAINTENANCE AND PROTECTION Howard S. Hogan Stephen W. Feingold Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton Washington, D.C. New York, NY Intellectual Property Law in Cyberspace Second Edition G. Peter Albert, Jr. and American Intellectual Property Law Association CHAPTER 7 UNIQUE ONLINE TRADEMARK ISSUES CHAPTER 8 DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION, MAINTENANCE AND PROTECTION American Intellectual Property Law Association A Arlington, VA Reprinted with permission For more information contact: bna.com/bnabooks or call 1-800-960-1220 Copyright © 2011 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Albert, G. Peter, 1964– Intellectual property law in cyberspace / G. Peter Albert, Jr. -- 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-57018-753-7 (alk. paper) 1. Industrial property--United States. 2. Computer networks--Law and legislation--United States. 3. Internet 4. Copyright and electronic data processing--United States. I. Title. KF3095.A77 2011 346.7304’8--dc23 2011040494 All rights reserved. Photocopying any portion of this publication is strictly prohibited unless express written authorization is first obtained from BNA Books, 1231 25th St., NW, Washington, DC 20037, bna.com/bnabooks. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by BNA Books for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) Transactional Reporting Service, provided that $1.00 per page is paid directly to CCC, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923, copyright.com, Telephone: 978-750-8400, Fax: 978-646-8600. Published by BNA Books 1801 S. Bell Street, Arlington, VA 22202 bna.com/bnabooks ISBN 978-1-57018-753-7 Printed in the United States of America 7 UNIQUE ONLINE TRADEMARK ISSUES Howard S. Hogan Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Washington, D.C. Stephen W. Feingold Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP New York, New York I. The Elements of a Trademark Claim .................................................. 308 A. Is It a Two-Prong or Three-Prong Test to Establish Infringement? ............................................................................... 308 B. The Confusion Prong of the Infringement Test ............................314 II. Confusion Online ................................................................................317 A. Types of Confusion on the Internet .............................................. 319 1. Point-of-Sale Confusion ........................................................ 319 2. Post-Sale Confusion ...............................................................320 3. Initial Interest Confusion .......................................................321 a. Historic Underpinnings ..................................................... 322 b. Cases Finding Initial Interest Confusion Actionable .........324 c. Cases Rejecting the Doctrine of Initial Interest Confusion .......................................................................... 325 d. Cases Setting Standards for Initial Interest Confusion ......329 B. Does the Internet Make Confusion More Likely? ........................332 1. Cases Finding that the Internet Exacerbates Confusion ........ 332 2. Cases Finding that the Internet Makes Confusion Less Likely .............................................................................333 C. Litigating Confusion: The Plaintiff’s Perspective ........................334 D. Litigating Confusion: The Defendant’s Perspective .....................335 305 306 IP LAW IN CYBERSPACE CH. 7. III. Trademark Owners’ Duty to Enforce on the Internet .......................... 336 A. The Duty to Police Generally ....................................................... 336 B. The Duty to Police as Applied to the Internet .............................. 338 C. Creating a Rational Policing Policy ............................................. 339 IV. Domain Names as Trademarks Generally ........................................... 341 A. Vanity Telephone Number Cases .................................................. 341 1. Dial-A-Mattress Franchise Corp. v. Page ............................. 342 2. Dranoff-Perlstein Associates v. Sklar .................................... 343 3. In re Dial-A-Mattress Operating Corporation ...................... 344 B. Domain Case Names .................................................................... 345 1. Generic and Descriptive Domain Names ............................... 345 2. Secondary Meaning ............................................................... 348 C. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s View .................................... 350 1. Identifying Goods or Services ............................................... 350 2. Using a Domain Name as a Trademark ................................. 351 3. Generic Second Level Domain Names .................................. 352 4. Top-Level Domains ............................................................... 355 V. Use of Trademarks on the Internet to Support Registration................ 356 A. Service Marks ............................................................................... 357 B. Trademarks for Goods .................................................................. 359 1. The Dell Decision and Various Responses ............................ 359 2. Dell’s Application .................................................................. 361 a. TTAB Decisions Regarding the Picture Requirement ....... 362 b. TTAB Decisions on the Requirement for Information to Order the Goods ........................................ 362 c. TTAB Decisions Discussing Prominence of a Mark on a Website ............................................................. 364 VI. Domain Names in Trademark Infringement ....................................... 364 A. Use in Commerce ......................................................................... 364 1. Cases Generally Finding Use in Commerce .......................... 365 2. Cases Generally Not Finding Use in Commerce ................... 367 B. Likelihood of Confusion............................................................... 369 1. Cases Generally Finding Likelihood of Confusion ............... 369 2. Cases Generally Not Finding Likelihood of Confusion ........ 371 C. Potential Defenses and Responses: Laches, Acquiescence, and Progressive Encroachment .................................................... 371 VII. Overview of Different Types of Domain Name Trademark Disputes ............................................................................................... 373 VIII. Trademark Dilution Online ................................................................. 376 A. Famousness................................................................................... 377 B. Blurring......................................................................................... 378 C. Tarnishment .................................................................................. 380 IX. Trademarks in Search Engines and Internet Advertising .................... 381 A. Use of Trademarks as Metatags .................................................... 381 1. Bad Faith Usage ..................................................................... 382 2. Permissible Use ...................................................................... 383 B. Pop-Up Adds as Trademark Use................................................... 384 1. Use of Pop-Ups Impermissible .............................................. 384 CH. 7. UNIQUE ONLINE TRADEMARK ISSUES 307 2. Non-Infringing Use of Pop-Up Advertisements .................... 385 C. Search Engine Advertising and Trademarks ................................. 386 1. Purchase of Marks as Keywords as “Use in Commerce” ............................................................................ 386 2. Likelihood of Confusion ........................................................ 390 3. Application of the Initial Interest Confusion Doctrine to the Search Engine Context ................................................. 391 4. Liability for “Broad Match” Ads ........................................... 392 X. Nominative Fair Use and The Internet ................................................ 394 A. Introduction .................................................................................. 394 B. Early Cases ................................................................................... 395 C. Classic Fair Use ............................................................................ 396 D. Advertising Practices Prior to 1971 Made Nominative Use Unusual ................................................................................. 399 E. “The New Kid on the Block” ....................................................... 401 F. Other Ninth Circuit Cases ............................................................ 403 G. What Other Circuits Say ............................................................... 407 1. Fifth Circuit ............................................................................ 407 2. Sixth Circuit ........................................................................... 409 3. First Circuit ...........................................................................