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January 14, 2007

Black Horse and The Peachy Tree

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

When I first heard about JG Wentworth's suit against Peachtree J.G. Wentworth SSC Ltd v. Settlement Funding LLC, No. 06-0597 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 4, 2007)  I have to admit I relished a spectacle starring two of my favorite targets in a matter of alleged trademark infringement.  One could say it rivals the battle of hyenas versus the vultures at a wildebeest kill.

With the latter in mind, some in the structured settlement industry could ask the cliched question "Isn't (JGW's suit) that the pot calling the kettle black?"*** in relation to the Bryn Mawr bunch.  My personal opinions of these companies' advertising business practices aside, in filing suit, J.G. Wentworth is doing the minimum of what has to do to protect its trademarks. If you have a mark, know of an infringement, and do not attempt to protect it you may have weakened your protections in the future. That being said, if you file suit, you still have to prove your case. In this case, and I stress this case, the Court sided with Peachtree.

Professor Eric Goldman of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University, provides a detailed analysis on the case in a January 5, 2007 posting on his Technology and Marketing Law Blog

Professor Goldman's analysis says that this case stands for two clear legal propositions:

* if keyword-triggered ad copy doesn't display the plaintiff's trademarks, plaintiff loses
* if search results don't display the plaintiff's trademarks even though the trademarks were included in the keyword meta tags, plaintiff loses

Once again, it is important to remember that J.G. Wentworth SSC Ltd v. Settlement Funding LLC, No. 06-0597 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 4, 2007) is just one case. There are other cases that have been decided with a different conclusion. Thus, this doesn't mean that you can, or should, run out and buy Google Ad Words in the name of all of your competitors. This doesn't mean that you should program names of your competitors into the meta tags or descriptions on your website.

In my opinion, some companies engaging in the factoring of structured settlement payments are already inviting regulatory intervention by engaging in practices of implying directly or indirectly, that they are structured settlement brokers, licensed to provide structured settlement quotes, structured settlement funding, provide structured settlement payments and other terms. If one of those companies were to then program the name of a licensed firm, or its trademarks, into their meta tags or descriptions that would be interesting material for the attorneys general

Further reading on Technology Trademark issues related to domain names, search engines and meta tags

*** in the opinion of this writer JG Wentworth, directly or through its alter egos and affiliates, is one of the "worst of breed" with respect to its "generous" contribution to advertising confusion

Posted at 10:54 PM in Current Affairs, Factoring Company Bad Business Practices, JG Wentworth Commentary, Peachtree Settlement Funding, Structured Settlement Information, Structured Settlement Watchdog® |

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  • New York Insurance Advertising law requires the full name of the Insurer to be listed along with the city and state of the principal office. Stating that you represent these fine companies using Insurance company logos without the preceding information are also illegal
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