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Journal NewYorkCountryLawyer's Journal: eBay beats Tiffany's in trademark case 2
Tiffany's has lost its bid to hold eBay liable for trademark infringement of Tiffany's brands taking place on eBay. After a lengthy bench trial (i.e. a trial where the judge, rather than the jury, decides the factual questions), Judge Richard J. Sullivan has issued a 66-page decision (PDF) carefully analyzing the facts and legal principles, ultimately concluding that 'it is the trademark owner's burden to police its mark, and companies like eBay cannot be held liable for trademark infringement based solely on their generalized knowledge that trademark infringement might be occurring on their websites'.
That's Awesome (Score:3, Interesting)
That's the sort of common sense ruling that I've begun to wonder if doesn't actually happen any longer.
Do you think this will have any bleed-over effect into cases like Viacom vs YouTube, or other attempts by copyright holders to get third parties with no vested interest in the success of that copyright to do all the holder's police work for them?
Re:That's Awesome (Score:4, Informative)
That's the sort of common sense ruling that I've begun to wonder if doesn't actually happen any longer. Do you think this will have any bleed-over effect into cases like Viacom vs YouTube, or other attempts by copyright holders to get third parties with no vested interest in the success of that copyright to do all the holder's police work for them?
Yes I do think this decision will have enormous impact throughout all of internet law. Although technically it is only about trademark infringement, it shows a clarity and sense of balance that I think will have a positive effect in the copyright cases as well.