Bookmark This Reference on Secondary Trademark Infringement

We are used to headlines on secondary infringement matters in copyright law. In Gorkster, secondary infringement of copyrights was held out for the world to see as the Supreme  Court reversed the Ninth Circuit and found that technology companies (file-sharing entrepreneurs) could be held liable for “actively inducing” illegal downloaders’ (the end-users’) acts of infringement. Napster and Limelight are a part of modern lexicon, as is Bit Torrent.

Canadian copyright law is quite specific about “secondary infringement, and when someone is “deemed” to have infringed.

There is a new area of law of secondary liability for trademark infringement, developed in the courts; someone other than a direct infringer can be liable. Now Jane Coleman presents us with a comprehensive, self-published, browser-based treatise (it’s free) on Secondary Trademark Infringement, and it couldn’t be more timely, with the court’s recent excusing Google for displaying infringed trademarks. The online treatise is a godsend to valuators and others who want a handle on the current state of the law in this relatively new risk area.  Nineteen leading cases are woven into the treatment to give them context. And the treatise takes advantage of browser capabilities: updating (see sections in red), clickable table of contents, etc.