Last week over at Webmaster World, there was a thread which covered a court decision which can be basically summarized as:
In a verdict handed down last week, the jury assessed damages totaling more than $32 million against hosting companies Akanoc Solutions Inc., Managed Solutions Group Inc., both in Fremont, Calif., and Steven Chen, the owner of the two companies. In awarding the damages, the jury agreed with Paris-based Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A.’s claims that the defendants knowingly allowed several Web sites they hosted to sell products that infringed Louis Vuitton’s copyrights and trademarks.
What could the fallout be? Imagine a competitor filing a false claim stating you are trademark infringing, and instead of taking a chance in an expensive court case, your host shuts off your account. Yeah, that is the worst case scenario, but that isn’t something that you want to experience.
Before you get too nervous about this ruling, understand that it states that the host KNEW about the trademark infringement, and decided to do nothing about it. This can be a slippery slope, but if there is a filing of trademark violations in the “real world” does the landlord lock out the retailer until the situation is resolved? No.
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