1800 contracts v whenu.docx

1800 contracts v whenu.docx

《1800 contracts v whenu.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《1800 contracts v whenu.docx（17页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

1800contractsvwhenu

UnitedStatesCourtofAppeals,SecondCircuit.

800CONTACTSINCv.WHENUCOMINCVISIONDIRECTINC

1-800CONTACTS,INC.,Plaintiff-Appellee,v.WHENU.COM,INC.andVISIONDIRECT,INC.,Defendants-Appellants.

DocketNos.04-0026-CV（L）,04-0446-CV（CON）.

ArguedApril5,2004.--June27,2005

Before:

 WALKER,ChiefJudge,andSTRAUB,CircuitJudge.1 

TerenceP.Ross,Gibson,Dunn&Crutcher,L.L.P.（RachelA.Clark,PrasanthR.Akkapeddi,andAmyE.Barrier,onthebrief）,Washington,DC,forPlaintiff-Appellee1-800Contacts,Inc.CeliaGoldwagBarenholtz,Kronish,Lieb,Weiner&Hellman（MichaelD.Paley,JasonM.Koral,andIanRossShapiro,onthebrief）,NewYork,NY,forDefendant-AppellantWhenU.Com,Inc.JeffreyE.Ostrow,SimpsonThacher&BartlettLLP（PatrickE.KingandTheodoreJ.McEvoy,onthebrief）,NewYork,NY,forDefendant-AppellantVisionDirect,Inc.MarkA.Lemley,Keker&VanNest,LLP,SanFrancisco,CA,foramicuscuriaeGoogleInc.urgingreversalofthedistrictcourt.ThomasC.Morrison,ChristineH.Miller,EdenDoniger,Patterson,Belknap,Webb&TylerLLP（PeterJ.Brann,KevinBeal,Brann&Isaacson,LLP; DanielG.Clodfelter,ThomasE.Graham,Moore&VanAllen,PLLC; RichardR.Hays,DavidJ.Stewart,Alston&Bird,LLP; JenniferG.Altman,Boies,Schiller&Flexner,LLP,ofcounsel）,NewYork,NY,foramicicuriaeTheHertzCorporation,L.L.Bean,Inc.,LendingTree,Inc.,SixContinentsHotels,Inc.,Inter-ContinentalHotelsCorporation,andTigerDirect,Inc.insupportofPlaintiff-Appellee1-800Contacts,Inc.ProfessorEricGoldman,MarquetteUniversityLawSchool,Milwaukee,WI; CindyCohn,FredvonLohmann,ElectronicFrontierFoundation,SanFrancisco,CA,foramicuscuriaeElectronicFrontierFoundationurgingreversalofthedistrictcourt.

Defendant-appellantWhenU.com,Inc.（“WhenU”）isaninternetmarketingcompanythatusesaproprietarysoftwarecalled“SaveNow”tomonitoracomputeruser'sinternetactivityinordertoprovidethecomputeruser（“C-user”）withadvertising,intheformof“pop-upads,”thatisrelevanttothatactivity.Plaintiff-appellee1-800Contacts,Inc.（“1-800”）isadistributorthatsellscontactlensesandrelatedproductsbymail,telephone,andinternetwebsite.Atthetime1-800filedthisactionintheUnitedStatesDistrictCourtfortheSouthernDistrictofNewYork（DeborahA.Batts,DistrictJudge ）,itownedaregisteredtrademarkintheservicemark“WEDELIVER.YOUSAVE.”andhadfiledapplicationswiththeUnitedStatesPatentandTrademarkOfficeonJuly8,1999,toregistertheservicemark“1-800CONTACTS”,2 andonOctober2,2000,toregistertheservicemarkof“1-800CONTACTS”inaspecificcolor-blockeddesignlogo.3

1-800filedacomplaintalleging,interalia,4 thatWhenUwasinfringing1-800'strademarks,inviolationoftheLanhamAct,15U.S.C.§§1114

（1）,1125（a）

（1）,bycausingpop-upadsof1-800'scompetitorstoappearonaC-user'sdesktopwhentheC-userhasaccessed1-800'swebsite.InanOpinionenteredJanuary7,2004,thedistrictcourtgranted1-800'smotionforapreliminaryinjunctionasitrelatedto1-800'strademarkclaims,5 andenjoinedWhenUfromusingorotherwisedisplaying1-800'strademarks,oranythingconfusinglysimilartosuchtrademarks,inconnectionwithWhenU'scontextuallyrelevantadvertising.1-800Contacts,Inc.v.WhenU.com,309F.Supp.2d467（S.D.N.Y.2003）（“1-800Contacts”）.WhenUhasfiledthisinterlocutoryappeal.6

Weholdthat,asamatteroflaw,WhenUdoesnot“use”1-800'strademarkswithinthemeaningoftheLanhamAct,15U.S.C.§1127,whenit

（1）includes1-800'swebsiteaddress,whichisalmostidenticalto1-800'strademark,inanunpublisheddirectoryoftermsthattriggerdeliveryofWhenU'scontextuallyrelevantadvertisingtoC-users; or

（2）causesseparate,brandedpop-upadstoappearonaC-user'scomputerscreeneitherabove,below,oralongthebottomedgeofthe1-800websitewindow.Accordingly,wereversethedistrictcourt'sentryofapreliminaryinjunctionandremandwithinstructionsto

（1）dismisswithprejudice1-800'strademarkinfringementclaimsagainstWhenU,and

（2）proceedwith1-800'sremainingclaims.

BACKGROUND

I. TheInternetandWindows

Bywayofintroductiontothiscaseweincorporatethedistrictcourt'shelpfultutorialontheinternetandtheMicrosoftWindowsoperatingenvironmentasitpertainstothislitigation:

TheInternetisaglobalnetworkofmillionsofinterconnectedcomputers․[AC-user]canaccess․informationthatisstoredontheInternetinrepositoriescalled“servers.”MuchoftheinformationstoredinserversontheInternetcanbeviewed․intheformof“webpages,”whicharecollectionsofpicturesandinformation,retrievedfromtheInternetandassembledonthe[C-user]'scomputerscreen.“Websites”arecollection[s]of[related]webpagesthatareorganizedandlinkedtogethertoallowa[C-user]tomovefromwebpagetowebpageeasily․

[AC-user] generallyconnectstotheInternetusinganinternetserviceprovider（“ISP”） 10․,whichallowsthe[C-user]'scomputertocommunicatewiththeInternet.OnceaconnectiontotheInternethasbeenestablished․,a[C-user]may“browse”or“surf”theInternetbyusingasoftwareprogramcalledanInternetbrowser（“browser”）.MicrosoftInternetExplorerisoneexampleofabrowserprogram.11․

ToretrieveinformationfromtheInternet,a[C-user]maytype[aspecific]address[,calledadomainname,] 13ofawebsiteintothe[addresslineofa]webbrowser․

․

[Alternatively,]․a[C-user]canuse[a“searchengine”]tofindinformation[by]․typ[ing]inawordorwordsdescribingwhatissought,andthesearchenginewillidentifywebsitesandwebpagesthatcontainthosewords.

1-800Contacts,309F.Supp.2dat474-75（internalcitationsandsomefootnotesomitted）.

Thedistrictcourtfurtherexplainedthat

[m]any[C-users]accesstheInternetwithcomputersthatusetheMicrosoftWindowsoperatingsystem（“Windows”）.Windowsallowsa[C-user]toworkinnumeroussoftwareapplicationssimultaneously.InWindows,thebackgroundscreeniscalledthe“desktop.”Whenasoftwareprogramislaunched,a“window”appearsonthedesktop,withinwhichthefunctionsofthatprogramaredisplayedandoperate.A[C-user]mayopenmultiplewindowssimultaneously,allowingthe[C-user]tolaunchandusemorethanonesoftwareapplicationatthesametime.Individualwindowsmaybemovedaroundthedesktop,andbecausethecomputerscreenistwo-dimensional,onewindowmayobscureanotherwindow,thusappearingtobe“infrontof”anotherwindow.

Id.at475（internalcitationsomitted）.SomeprogramsonaC-user'scomputer,suchasacalendarore-mailapplication,maycausewindowstoopenontheC-user'sdesktopindependentlyofanycontemporaneousactionbytheC-user.SeeWellsFargo&Co.v.WhenU.com,Inc.,293F.Supp.2d734,743¶ 53（E.D.Mich.2003）; seegenerallyid.at740-43（providingin-depthdescriptionofhowsoftwareapplicationsandwebbrowsersoperateintheWindowsenvironment,andnotingthatWindowsiscurrentlyusedonapproximately95%ofpersonalcomputers）.

II. TheChallengedConduct

Thespecificconductatissueinthiscasehasbeendescribedindetailbythedistrictcourt,see1-800Contacts,309F.Supp.2dat476-78,aswellasothercourtsthathaveaddressedsimilarclaimsagainstWhenU,seeWellsFargo,293F.Supp.2dat738-40,743-46; U-HaulInt'l,Inc.v.WhenU.com,Inc.,279F.Supp.2d723,725-26（E.D.Va.2003）.Accordingly,wereciteonlythosefactsrelevanttothisappeal.

WhenUprovidesaproprietarysoftwarecalled“SaveNow”withoutchargetoindividualC-users,usuallyaspartofabundleofsoftwarethattheC-uservoluntarilydownloadsfromtheinternet.“Onceinstalled,theSaveNowsoftwarerequiresnoactionbythe[C-user]toactivateitsoperations; instead,theSaveNowsoftwarerespondstoa[C-user]'s‘in-the-moment’activitiesbygeneratingpop-upadvertisementwindows”thatarerelevanttothosespecificactivities.1-800Contacts,309F.Supp.2dat477.TodelivercontextuallyrelevantadvertisingtoC-users,theSaveNowsoftwareemploysaninternaldirectorycomprising“approximately32,000[websiteaddresses]and[address]fragments,29,000searchtermsand1,200keywordalgorithms,”WellsFargo,293F.Supp.2dat743¶ 58,thatcorrelatewithparticularconsumerintereststoscreenthewordsaC-usertypesintoawebbrowserorsearchengineorthatappearwithintheinternetsitesaC-uservisits.

WhentheSaveNowsoftwarerecognizesaterm,itrandomlyselectsanadvertisementfromthecorrespondingproductorservicecategorytodelivertotheC-user'scomputerscreenatroughlythesametimethewebsiteorsearchresultsoughtbytheC-userappears.Asthedistrictcourtexplained,

TheSaveNowsoftwaregeneratesatleastthreekindsofads-anadmaybeasmall‘pop-up’․[thatappears]inthebottomright-handcornerofa[C-user]'sscreen; itmaybea‘pop-under’advertisementthatappearsbehindthewebpagethe[C-user]initiallyvisited; oritmaybea‘panoramic’ad[ ]thatstretchesacrossthebottomofthe[C-user]'scomputerscreen.

1-800Contacts,309F.Supp.2dat478.Eachtypeofadappearsinawindowthatisseparatefromtheparticularwebsiteorsearch-resultspagetheC-userhasaccessed.Id.Inaddition,alabelstating“AWhenUOffer-click?

forinfo.”appearsinthewindowframesurroundingthead,togetherwithabuttononthetoprightofthewindowframemarked“?

”that,whenclickedbytheC-user,displaysanewwindowcontaininginformationaboutWhenUanditsads,7 aswellasinstructionsforuninstallingtheresidentSaveNowsoftware.Id.at478nn.22&23.

Usuallythereisa“few-second”delaybetweenthemomentauseraccessesa