ISSUE084
02.02.2016
w w w. i p p r o t h e i n t e r n e t . c o m
The primary source of global intellectual property internet news and analysis
Anti-cybersquatting service gives brands a boost Accent Media, the registry for the .tickets gTLD, has launched a new anticybersquatting service that allows rights holders to contest the purchase of their trademarks as domain names. Domains Watch, which is live for .tickets domains and has already been used by Disney, Ticketfly, Nascar and AXS, holds registered domains in limbo for 30 days to allow rights holders to contest their rights. Rights holders with evidence of their rights can receive their domain names within five days.
Google fights fakers’ bad ads
Google suspended more than 10,000 sites and 18,000 accounts in 2015 for attempting to sell counterfeit goods through its advertising networks.
with Google—and why we’ve invested in sophisticated technology and a global team of 1,000+ people dedicated to fighting bad ads.”
The internet company revealed in a blog post on 21 January that it’s making extensive efforts to combat ‘bad ads’, such as those selling fake goods, through its advertising networks. It has promised to step up the campaign this year.
“Last year alone we disabled more than 780 million ads for violating our policies—a number that’s increased over the years thanks to new protections we’ve put in place.”
Google disabled almost 800 million ads last year that violated its policies. This was almost 50 percent higher than the 524 million takedowns in 2014. “Bad ads can ruin your entire online experience, a problem we take very seriously,” wrote Sridhar Ramaswamy, senior vice president of ads and commerce at Google. “That’s why we have a strict set of policies for the kinds of ads businesses can run
Using algorithms and human reviewers, Google targeted counterfeiters, pharmaceuticals, weight loss scams and phishing last year, blocking more than 12.5 million ads that violated its healthcare and medicines policy, and preventing nearly 7,000 phishing sites from using its ad networks. Google promised to step up its campaign this year, by further restricting what can be advertised as effective for weight loss, and adding new protections against malware and bots. Continued on p2
Registered domain names are published via domains.watch and can be challenged for a fee. Domains Watch assesses the case if an opposition is filed during the 30-day period. Continued on p2
GE loses hyperlink case The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has tossed an infringement case over patents for hyperlinking, securing a win for advertising company Vibrant Media against General Electric. The appeals court handed down its decision in December, affirming the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) finding that the claims in both patents were invalid, following instituted inter partes reviews (IPRs). General Electric, which has a digital industrial business that offers cloud computing and software solutions, asserted the patents against Vibrant in April 2012 at the US District Court for the District of Delaware. Continued on p2