Judge Allows Jones Day Suit Over Web Posts About Attorney Home Purchases
A controversial federal trademark infringement suit by the Jones Day law firm against an Internet news site that publicizes home purchases by individual attorneys has survived a motion to dismiss.
“But in a partial victory for the local real estate news company, the judge, John Darrah of Chicago, said that the lawsuit could only go forward against BlockShopper and not company principals Brian Timpone and Edward Weinhaus,” reports the Online Media Daily.
As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, the BigLaw firm has drawn fire from nonprofit advocacy groups for protesting the use of Jones Day materials in the BlockShopper posts about home purchases by two of the firm’s associates.
The law firm contends in the Northern District of Illinois lawsuit that the posts infringe its service mark infringement, and also asserts claims for federal false designation of origin and unfair business practices under the Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, among other issues. However, the advocacy groups argue that the posts should be considered news reporting that make fair use of law firm materials.
