American Blind has sued Google over its keyword sale of terms in which American Blind claims rights, such as AMERICAN BLIND and AMERICAN WALLPAPER..  The suit was filed in district court in Manhattan.  Via News.com.

Google has previously filed a declaratory judgment against American Blind in California, background here.  Speaking extremely broadly, there is a ‘first-to-file’ rule, however courts have discretion as to whether to apply it.  So it’s kinda a first-to-file guideline.

Decision in Playboy v. Netscape, which states that there is at least a colorable cause of action regarding keyword sales, here.

Results of Google search of term AMERICAN BLIND here.

UPDATE: Coverage here.

Via news.com, the Playboy v. Netscape suit has settled.  Background here.

Via NY Lawyer, an article regarding a paralegal’s attempts to challenge a NY State statute banning language that is obscene or intends to ridicule.  The paralegal successfully fought to name a not-for-profit advocacy group QUEER AWARENESS.

U.S. trademark law has a provision that bars marks that disparage.  Marks currently registered include QUEER AS FOLK, QUEERGEAR and QUEERSTOCK.  There are also pending applications for QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY.

Via Copyfight,  word of a  bill that has passed the House Judiciary Committee, intended to give protection to databases.

This NY Post article, reporting the sale of the New Jersey Nets to a rich Brooklyn person Bruce Rattner, who intends to move the team to Brooklyn, mentions that the New Jersey Sports Authority will ask the NBA to allow it to keep the name NEW JERSEY NETS (lucky for them that Nassau County didn’t pull this when the Nets moved to Jersey).

Background on the ownership of trademarks when sports franchises move, here.

The New Jersey Nets trademark appears to be owned by New Jersey Basketball, LLC.

The domain name NYNETS.COM was registered to a Long Island resident in September of ’02.

The domain name NEWYORKNETS.COM was registered to a Texas company in July of ’02.

The domain name BROOKLYNNETS.COM was registered by DirectNic in August of ’03.

Some will recall the Golden Age of New York -ETS names, 1975, when there were the NEW YORK METS, JETS, NETS, and, blink and you missed them, the World Team Tennis League NEW YORK SETS.

Microsoft blinks in Mike Rowe Soft matter, via CNet News.com.

New York Mets v. the UK Met(rological) Office,via Reuters.

More from IPKat here.

IPKat on NELLIE THE ELEPHANT and the relationship between copyright and trademark rights in the UK.