Feeling sick and tired? Why not try some spam!

laden ladenfam's reaction to spam was dramatic,
if predictable (photo of Elvis, courtesy of
Ignacio Marques, Baker & McKenzie)

Every so often laden ladenfam gets an email which makes him chuckle. Usually they offer him a chance to get rich quick, quantities of "herbal viagra" (sic), replica Rolexes [Merpel wonders, if the plural of "index" is "indices", shouldn't the plural of Rolex be Rolices?], doctoral degrees from "prestigious unaccredited universities" and dodgy offers from the heirs of cash-rich cancer-ridden villains.  The email below wasn't even sent to him, being forwarded by a reader.  It goes like this:

"----- Original Message -----
From: "Alan Albright"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 1:48 PM
Subject: PatentDrafting.co.uk

Would you like to secure hundreds of extra orders every month at zero ongoing cost? [This Kat is content with his humble crust, but might just be tempted ...]

The domain PatentDrafting.co.uk that we have for sale is ready to drive substantial traffic and new business to you that would have cost you tens of thousands of pounds a year to replace by instead purchasing expensive Google AdWords.[but how much would it cost to get a descriptive term like 'patent drafting' to the top of the "organic" hit list via search engine optimisation, particularly when patentdrafting.com is already in pole position?]

Most of our clients (who include Microsoft, HM Government, American Express, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Renault UK and Deutsche Telekom) are now finding that prime keyword domains pay for themselves within weeks rather than months by virtue of the extra business that they drive to their websites by means of type in traffic and greatly enhanced search engine positions. [The imagine of a Renault driving through the traffic flashes into the mind ..]

Please feel free to get in touch if you’re sick and tired of getting fleeced by greedy Google! [The Kat has heard this sentiment over recent months and years, though the signatory of this email is the first person who seems to be addressing it, alas] Why pay through the nose for traffic that you can now have for free? [... assuming that people really still use domain name type-ins rather than finding the sites they want in less than a second via ... Google]

Best regards,

Alan Albright
eBarclays.com [not to be confused with Barclays, of course]"

Thanks, Sang Nkhwazi (Mancunium IP) for forwarding this.

After Google France: OLG Braunschweig decides in AdWord case

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Trade marks, AdWords and the location of harmful events: some brain-teasers

Without the facts, laden ladenfam isn't even sure
if this is the right Wintersteiger

Now here's a good IP question or two for the Court of Justice of the European Union -- it's coming up in Case C-523/10 Wintersteiger [courtesy of the UK Intellectual Property Office, here] and the questions run like this:

"1. In the case of an alleged infringement by a person established in another Member State of a trade mark granted in the State of the court seized through the use of a keyword (AdWord) identical to that trade mark in an internet search engine which offers its services under various country-specific top-level domains, is the phrase "the place where the harmful event occurred or may occur" in Article 5(3) of Regulation 44/2001 ("Brussels I") is to be interpreted as meaning that;

1.1. jurisdiction is established only if the keyword is used on the search engine website the opt-level domain of which is that of the State of the court seized;

1.2. jurisdiction is established only if the search engine website on which the keyword is used can be accessed in the State of the court seized;

1.3. jurisdiction is dependent on the satisfaction or other requirements additional to the accessibility of the website?

2. If Question1.3 is answered in the affirmative: Which criteria are to be used to determine whether jurisdiction under Article 5(3) of Brussels I is established where a trade mark granted in the State of the course seized is used as an AdWord on a search engine website with a country-specific top-level domain different from that of the State of the court seized?"

laden ladenfam is surprised only that it has taken so long for these issues to reach Europe's highest court, given the high level of internet (and AdWord) use within a single market in which there are so many countries and jurisdictions.

If you would like to advise the UK Intellectual Property Office on these issues, thus enabling the UK government to decide whether to get involved or not, you can email your thoughts here.  As usual, the time for response is absurdly short, and is really an insult to the intellectual property community: you have to submit your comments by Tuesday 4 January 2011 -- and there aren't exactly many working days between now and then.   The deadline for the court to receive observations is 1 March 2011.

Merpel says, can any reader tell her what the underlying dispute is all about?

After Google France et al: when is an ad "vague"?

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