Taubman Co. v. Webfeats
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Taubman Co. v. Webfeats, 319 F.3d 770, 778 (6th Cir. 2003) was a United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit case concerning trademark infringement under the Lanham Act due to the unauthorized use of a domain name and website. The appellate court held that Taubman's trademark infringement claim did not have a likelihood of success and that the use of the company's mark in the domain name was an exhibition of Free Speech.[1]
The Taubman Company v. Webfeats | |
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Court | United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit |
Full case name | The Taubman Company v. Webfeats and Henry Mishkoff |
Argued | October 16 2002 |
Decided | February 7 2003 |
Citation | 319 F.3d 770 |
Holding | |
Held that, in the context of an injunction application, speech critical of plaintiff's business was protected by the First Amendment, and could not be blocked by the Lanham Act. | |
Court membership | |
Judges sitting | Danny Julian Boggs, Richard Fred Suhrheinrich, and Eric L. Clay |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. amend. I, Lanham Act |
Taubman Co. v. Webfeats became the first federal appellate court case that addressed the phenomenon of "cybergriping".[2] The legal battle also evolved into a civil liberties case, attracting the attention of organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the nonprofit advocacy group Public Citizen.[3]