Security News > 2007 > November > Google and Yahoo Sued for Hosting Content That Allegedly Infringes Trademarks -- (ISC)2 v. Degraphenreed
http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2007/11/google_and_yaho.htm By Eric Goldman Technology & Marketing Law Blog November 17, 2007 International Information Systems Security Certifications Consortium v. Degraphenreed, 2:07 CV 1195 (S.D. Ohio complaint filed Nov. 16, 2007) International Information Systems Security Certifications Consortium ("ISC2") offers a professional designation entitled "Certified Information Systems Security Professional," or "CISSP" for short, that individuals can earn by meeting the published requirements. The Consortium has a federally registered certification mark (#2045256) for the term "CISSP." The complaint alleges that Degraphenreed was once a registered Certified Information Systems Security Professional but he failed to satisfy the continuing standards. As a result, the complaint alleges that Degraphenreed now describes himself as a "Chief Information Security Systems Practitioner," also abbreviated as "CISSP," thereby continuing to claim CISSP status without meeting the ISC2's standards. These allegations appear to support trademark infringement and false advertising claims, although interestingly I can't find any examples of Degraphenreed's usage of the term "Chief Information Security Systems Practitioner." (I got zero results in both Google and Yahoo searching for the term "Chief Information Security Systems Practitioner."). ISC2 also alleged trademark dilution but that should be a non-starter because I doubt CISSP will qualify as widely recognized among the general consuming public. The most interesting aspect of this case is that ISC2 also sued Google and Yahoo for trademark infringement for hosting content that contained Degraphenreed's impermissible CISSP usage. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Google hosted six blogs that contained the CISSP mark (at least 2 of which contained the term in the blog title), and that Google refused to take down these blogs after the plaintiff's notice. The complaint also alleges that Yahoo hosted 5 Yahoo Groups referencing CISSP and a Flickr account containing ISC2's CISSP logo, and that after plaintiff's notice Yahoo only removed one group and left everything else up. The complaint claims direct (not contributory) trademark based on these allegations.
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http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2007/11/google_and_yaho.htm