Only tenuously related to domain names, but definitely an important ruling
that re-establishes traditional limits on trademarks.
Andy
-------
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/12/cyber/cyberlaw/17law.html
Former Playboy Model Wins Right to Use Keywords
...
In a closely reasoned 48-page decision, Judge Judith N. Keep of the
United States District Court for the Southern District of
California in San
Diego dismissed Playboy Enterprises' 1998 lawsuit against Terri
Welles, its
former employee. The company's suit, which has been closely
watched by
Internet law experts, accused Welles of violating trademark laws
by using
Playboy's trademarks in the visible and invisible portions of her
Web site.
...
Bret A. Fausett, a lawyer who specializes in Internet
law and intellectual property at Fausett, Gaeta & Lund,
a Boston law firm, said he thought Judge Keep made
the right decision. "My initial thought in all this was that
Playboy was overreaching, trying to argue that any use
of the word 'playboy' anywhere on [another] Web site is
forbidden," he said. "But that's not the way trademark
law works.... This was absolutely a fair use."
