Volume 1 Issue 3

1 3 September 2001

Features:

Introduction

Domain Names - Local Ireland Ltd & Nua Ltd won injunctive relief in the Dublin High Court against Local Ireland Online Ltd and Con Daly.

Domain Names - World Wildlife Fund won summary judgement in the Chancery Division and enforcement of a world wide contract with the World Wrestling Federation limiting the use of the acronym WWF.

Domain Names - Government of Canada v David Baron: In this WIPO judgement the Government obtained transfer of a series of domain names utilising the names of government departments.

Distance Selling - Ford v Texas Department of Transportation: US Fifth Circuit Appeals Court upheld a Texas decision that Ford was not allowed to sell used cars through its website to Texas residents.

E-Book Rights - Random House v Rosetta Books: Rosetta successfully defended their acquisition of online rights, which Random claimed to hold through existing ‘pre-internet’ contracts.

Databases - British Horseracing Board Ltd v William Hill Organisation Ltd: William Hill won discharge of an injunction and the referral of this ground breaking case to the European Court of Justice.

Databases - Fixtures Marketing Ltd v AB Svenska Spel: The Swedish Court of Appeal rejected Fixtures Marketing Ltd’s appeal over their claim concerning use of their database of football fixtures.

Databases - N V Holdingmaatschappij de Telegraaf v The Foundation Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS): This Dutch TV listings case provides a further examination of database rights.

Patents - Electronic Planroom Inc v The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc: In this US case the Court held a patent was unenforceable as the patent claims could be reduced to a mathematical algorithm.

Jurisdiction - Gutnick v Dow Jones & Co: The Supreme Court of Victoria in Australia held that Victoria was the appropriate jurisdiction for a case involving internet libel and a US publisher.

Online Dispute Resolution - A US based website known as iCourthouse has developd an innovative approach to dispute resolution.

Data Protection - The Swedish Supreme Court found that the Data Protection Directive provides for a wider interpretation of journalistic freedom that had previously been held.

Distance Selling - Middlesborough Trading Standards v Fische & Chips: This case provides a demonstration of the powers that are now available for regulating selling to consumers over the web.