Google's Summary Judgment Partially Overturned

On Wednesday, December 26, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated part of a summary judgment granted to Google in a patent infringement suit brought against the search engine.

A Wisconsin district court originally granted Google's motion for summary judgment in the patent infringement suit brought by Hyperphrase Technologies. The suit claimed that Google, in using its AutoLink and AdSense, infringed four of Hyperphrase's patents. The appeals court ruled differently and remanded part of the case, vacating a summary judgment in Google's favor that AutoLink did not infringe two of Hyperphrase's patents. However, the appeals court agreed that Google's AdSense did not infringe any of the patents.

AutoLink is part of Google's toolbar and turns non-linked content on websites into links back to Google-related sites, such as Google Maps. Google's AdSense is an ad serving program that allows website owners to enable text, image and video advertisements on their sites.

The case was remanded back to the Wisconsin district court.

Martha Stewart, Town Resolve Trademark Dispute

The long-running trademark dispute between Martha Stewart and the villagers of Katonah, NY has been resolved. The parties agreed to a compromise: that Stewart may only use the name Katonah in connection with furniture, mirrors, pillows and chair cushions. Stewart had previously desired to obtain protection in connection with home furnishings and accessories, indoor lighting, paint, carpeting and flooring.

The dispute started after the villagers of the small, upstate New York town and some its businesses filed an opposition against Stewart's attempt to trademark the name for her desired goods. The residents argued that Stewart's use of the town name would harm existing businesses. In addition, a nearby American Indian tribe objected because the village is named after one of its 17-century chiefs.